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Sustainable Pittsburgh benefits from the following 2015 "Patron" Members:

What's New

The 2014-2015 Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge is ON!
In this friendly, 12 month competition, employers in southwestern PA track performance, save money, and gain positive recognition for their achievements! Attn: businesses, nonprofits, local government, universities and K-12 schools--you can still sign up to be an "observer!"Learn more

Check out the region's Energy Baseline report:

Be recognized as a leading municipality.
Get certified!

Demonstrate your business's commitment to sustainability. Sign on to the SWPA Sustainable Business Compact:

Small business? Check out our sustainable designation program!

Connect with us:

A collaborative group of over 30 community planners, innovators, nonprofits, community leaders, cyclists, city officials, educators, investors, neighborhood developers, business leaders, and civic partnerships, exploring Bus Rapid Transit for Pittsburgh. LEARN MORE

Receive a Sustainability Assessment!
Led by a team of experts, our assessments help businesses and municipalities save money in operations, conserve resources, and enhance civic stewardship.
More information click here.

SWPA communities invited to apply to host a cash mob to support their sustainable businesses
Deadline to Apply is April 10!
Communities are invited to apply to host a cash mob, for which Sustainable Pittsburgh provides logistical and promotional support to draw attention and customers to business districts and sustainable small businesses in the community.

A cash mob is a group of people that assembles to shop at small, local businesses on a particular day.
Cash mobs can increase customers, sales, and regional exposure for small businesses. Sustainable Pittsburgh organizes cash mobs in partnership with local communities to support the community’s leadership in sustainability efforts.

SP's C4S program organized three cash mobs over the past 18 months. At Cash Mob Carnegie, over 80 percent of participating businesses doubled their customers and sales, and at Cash Mob Ambridge, 100 percent of participating businesses reported increased exposure due to publicity for the event. Previous cash mobs also received significant earned media attention.

Business district leaders; chamber of commerce representatives; borough managers; or a community member representing a local organization, community group, business or government entity are all eligible to apply.

Keynote Speaker:
Chris Turk, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing and Operations at Interface, Inc. Interface is the worldwide leader in design, production and sales of environmentally-responsible modular carpet for the commercial, institutional, and residential markets

Engaging larger numbers of an organization's employees is vital to the success of an organization's sustainability activities. It is for this reason that the GWC has included a large number of employee engagement actions in this year's competition. For this workshop, participants will interact with national and regional leaders for ways to design and deploy successful employee engagement activities.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Gallup Organization, "People spend a substantial part of their lives working... [T]he quality of their workplace experience is inevitably reflected in the quality of their lives... Business leaders worldwide must raise the bar on employee engagement. Increasing workplace engagement is vital to achieving sustainable growth for companies, communities, and countries --- and for putting the global economy back on track to a more prosperous and peaceful future."

This GWC workshop features ways for participants to discover what works for employee engagement strategies and ways to earn many competition points by broadening participation in their sustainability efforts as part of the GWC.

Kudos to newly certified sustainable municipalities

Sustainable Pittsburgh is pleased to announce the most recent municipalities to earn certification through its Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification:

This sustainability performance program advances good government by enabling municipalities to take stock of current sustainability policies and practices and to advance their goals and objectives.

According to their assessments, these municipalities are particularly strong in the areas of water use, conservation and quality as well as land use policies promoting walkable, mixed-used development and redevelopment in the town center.

Participation in the Sustainable PA Community Certification results in more informed municipal officials and residents, and positive impacts for the community and region. Cost savings, a healthier and engaged populace, and public recognition are just a few of the benefits municipalities can derive from participation. Congratulations to these sustainability pacesetters!

Energy for the Power of 32 – Speaker Videos, Participant Recommendations & Artist's Illustration now online

Speaker videos, recommendations from the Participant Survey, and the artist illustration of report-outs from the December 11, 2014 "Energy for the Power of 32: 32 Counties, 4 States, 1 Future" event are now available online at www.energy4p32.org

The Participant Survey is a compilation of all the insights and recommendations submitted during the Energy for the Power of 32 event per the Participant/Individual Survey sheets. The document also includes comments gleaned from the table work sheets that were submitted as summary of participant deliberations by table groupings. Additionally, the Energy for the Power of 32 website features the artist illustration of report-outs from the December 11th event.

Sustainable Pittsburgh, through the Green Workplace Challenge, Green Friends Development, and the WCCC Advanced Technology Center have teamed to offer a program that focuses on emerging technology opportunities motivated by sustainability in Southwestern Pennsylvania. What advancements are occurring in our region that feature the benefits of going greener? How can GWC participants put some of these advancements into practice? How can we put green ideas and veterans to work with these advancements?

Smart homes, alternative energy technologies, permeable pavements, energy audits, and Veterans training opportunities are on the docket for this next workshop. Some of the most advanced technologies in these areas will be on display at this event, which also includes optional afternoon tours of the WCCC ATC exhibits and veterans training.

This program will help GWC participants access some new technology ideas that can be adopted in the workplace and shared with employees so that they can be adopted at home.

Sustainable Pittsburgh is pleased to announce 87 organizations signed up to compete in the 2014-2015 Green Workplace Challenge. They represent a strong mix of businesses, nonprofits, local governments, universities, and K-12 schools participating from across southwestern Pennsylvania.

Congratulations to all for their leadership and commitment to shaping a more sustainable Pittsburgh region. We look forward to reporting on the collective measured impacts this group of leaders will be making over the next 10 months.

- 87 employers signed up for the Green Workplace Challenge
- 150 small businesses have earned Sustainable Small Business Designation
- 37 and 15 – the number of municipalities that have earned and are working on the Sustainable PA Community Certification in partnership with the PA Municipal League
- 6 and 21 – the number of businesses that have earned and are working on the Sustainable Business Compact
- 23 - the number of leaders serving on the Advisory Committee to create the new Sustainable Pittsburgh Restaurant performance program

Interested in learning more? We can help you succeed! Give us a call. (412) 258-6642.

Thank you, Sustainable Pittsburgh Members and Donors

Thank you to the individuals, businesses, nonprofits and municipalities that have joined or renewed their membership with Sustainable Pittsburgh during our current member campaign. Your support directly aids in accelerating our region’s uptake of the policy and practice of sustainable development for a more prosperous southwestern Pennsylvania.

For those 3E Links readers who have not yet joined, please do! As demonstrated in our annual stakeholder report, Sustainable Pittsburgh plays a key role in providing activities for people, businesses, and organizations to genuinely engage and contribute to our progress.

Sustainable Pittsburgh:
- Engages increasing numbers of businesses, nonprofits, universities, and municipalities in formal sustainability performance programs to measure and demonstrate their sustainability accomplishments and areas for improvement for cumulative benefit to our region.
- Introduces the latest insights about trends and movements in sustainable business and governance.
- Convenes partnerships to address regional issues such as transportation, governance, land use, energy.
- Fills a need by facilitating professional networks for Sustainability Officers from all sectors.
- Works from both inside and outside in registering a strong voice of informed advocacy at pressure points for change on issues such as social justice, air and water quality, natural resource development.

Your membership contribution (or donation) is a vote of confidence for a Sustainable Pittsburgh organization and region. Please join us today!

Less than 10 days left to sign up for the 2014-2015 Green Workplace Challenge:
Sign up by January 31, 2015

In just two years, nearly 100 employers in southwestern Pennsylvania voluntarily completed over 2,000 measurable actions, saving $7.4 million in energy costs through the Green Workplace Challenge (GWC). These facts are just a sampling of the positive impacts made for the region through the GWC.

A 12 month friendly competition, the GWC enables organizations operating in southwestern PA to track and measure improvements in energy, water, waste, and transportation. The competition involves using a guidebook that provides over 240 action items to earn points, verification, and recognition.

Participation enables an organization to save money, engage and motivate employees, and receive due recognition for its green achievements. It's easy to sign up and Sustainable Pittsburgh staff are available to provide support during the competition.

New this year, K-12 schools are eligible to compete. Other categories include businesses, nonprofits, colleges/universities and local governments, each of which competes among similarly sized organizations within its own category. Organizations that participated in the past may be eligible to earn legacy points. Another new feature this year is the category for micro businesses/organizations—employers with 10 or fewer employees.

All organizations signing up to compete by the January 31st deadline are entered into a drawing to win a combination of the following (their choice), valued in total at approximately $1,500:
- Energy Audit
- Waste, Recycling, Green Procurement assessment via Zero Waste Pittsburgh
- ZipCar credit account
- Green Energy Voucher
- Bicycles for a shared office bike program

The next step in the process is creating a plan for maximizing your energy savings throughout the course of the competition. This workshop will help you identify which opportunities tend to produce the biggest "bang for the buck" in terms of energy savings. The program features presentations from past GWC participants who have demonstrated significant energy savings through their investments and employee engagement activities. Panelists will discuss ways of offsetting the costs of conducting energy audits with ACT 129 rebates for improved efficiencies in electrical equipment as well as demand response programs. Presenters will show how to formulate a financial plan and set expectations on how long it will take to achieve payback on such investments.

This program will help GWC participants set their plans for moving ahead in the competition with resources and financial savings.

Support a more sustainable region.
Become a member of Sustainable Pittsburgh today!

With support from its members and donors, Sustainable Pittsburgh has chalked up another remarkable year of advancing the policy and practice of sustainability for the region.

The sustainable development movement has taken hold. People are engaged and noticing change. Take a look at Sustainable Pittsburgh's 2014 Stakeholders Report, which outlines accomplishments over the entire year. It is through financial contributions from individuals and organizations that help us do the work we do.

Thanks for attending "Energy for the Power of 32: Establishing a baseline and catalyzing a regional energy plan and strategy"
Thursday, December 11
David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown Pittsburghwww.energy4p32.org

Our region is host to abundant energy resources, globally-leading expertise, and a willingness to collaborate to do things smarter than anyplace else. But when it comes to energy, we don’t yet have a plan for where we are going.

Nearly 400 attendees took part in the first formative steps toward identifying our region's energy future and developing strategies to assure our economic competitiveness and high quality of life.

“Cash Mob Ambridge” brings new exposure to local businesses
On Friday, November 14th, over 25 people came out to support local, sustainable businesses in Ambridge, PA as part of a “Cash Mob.” In this case, a Cash Mob is a group of people coming together to celebrate with and shop at local businesses that have earned Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Sustainable Small Business Designation. Sustainable businesses implement actions that are simultaneously good for their bottom line, the environment, and the social fabric of their communities.

Ambridge currently boasts the most Gold and Silver Designations of any town in southwestern Pennsylvania. Many Ambridge business owners reported increased advertising, connections, and exposure as a result of the Cash Mob. Multiple businesses reported over a 25% increase in sales for the day.

Cash Mob Ambridge was made possible by Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Champions for Sustainability program, Ambridge Connection, Town Center Associates and the Ambridge Chamber of Commerce. Of course, this event would not have been possible without the 15 participating businesses. Thanks to everyone who came out to support these Sustainable Small Businesses.

Sustainable Pittsburgh plans to host another Cash Mob in the spring of 2015. If you are a small business owner interested in the Sustainable Small Business Designation, please visit: www.C4SPGH.org/smallbiz.

Sign your organization up for the 2014-2015 PGH Green Workplace Challenge
The Green Workplace Challenge is back again for another year of exciting competition! Track and measure improvements in energy, water, waste, and transportation, and gain positive recognition for your achievements. The GWC Quick Start Guide helps you get started with creating an account and identifying the top actions you can take to start saving money. Past participant? Legacy points are now available! If you completed actions going back to 2010, you can still count them! Sign up at: www.gwcpgh.org. Deadline to sign up is January 31, 2015.

Our region is host to abundant energy resources, globally-leading expertise, and a willingness to collaborate to do things smarter than anyplace else. But when it comes to energy, we don’t yet have a plan for where we are going.

On Thursday, December 11, come take part in the first formative steps toward identifying our region's smartest energy future. Join the 18 institutions that have come together to present this event. The day begins with presentation of the region's Energy Baseline: a first ever, fact-based characterization of present sources of energy production, consumption, and outcomes. This is followed by fast-paced, eye-popping presentations. Then the audience will be asked to roll up their sleeves to deliberate on and recommend regional energy principles, values, needs and opportunities, and how best to design the process going forward to create a regional energy plan and strategy.

Want some insight on how your organization can go green and save green? Watch this segment of “Our Region’s Business,” where the top scorers in business for the 2013-2014 Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge (GWC) shared their insights on the competition that helped them implement more sustainable practices in the workplace. Additionally, the top scorers from the nonprofit, university, and local government categories were featured on “Talking Pittsburgh.” Hear the perspective of small and medium nonprofits through this link, and the local government and university perspectives via this link. Stay tuned, the next round of the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge is coming this Fall!

Congratulations again to the all the 2013-2014 GWC winners:
Large Business Category: FedEx Ground
Medium Business Category: DMI Companies
Small Business Category: Pashek Associates
Municipality/Local Government: Allegheny County
University Category: University of Pittsburgh
Medium Nonprofit Category: ALCOSAN
Small Nonprofit Category: Conservation Consultants, Inc.

"Pittsburgh is the best ... but hold that thought"
The following excerpt is part of a blog post written by Grant Oliphant, President, The Heinz Endowments. In the blog, Mr. Oliphant hails the continued accolades bestowed upon the Pittsburgh region, but he cautions readers to not succumb to apathy. There are still improvements to be made for Pittsburgh, particularly air quality. In this passionate blog post, Mr. Oliphant challenges Pittsburghers to have courage to demand change that results in cleaner air for all to breathe.Read the full post here.

“. . . A feature story by Jeffery Fraser in the recent issue of Pittsburgh Quarterly about the region’s persistent air quality woes asks the salient question: “Is better good enough?” He asks why Pittsburgh seems willing to tolerate levels of risk when it comes to pollutants that are higher than in cities like Boston, Seattle and even New York, where the air is much cleaner. Indeed, our city ranks in the dirtiest 10 percent of monitored urban areas for average annual particle pollution, and we aren’t improving as quickly as many other places.

Sure we can celebrate how far we’ve come since mothers tied scarves around their children’s mouths as makeshift respirators. Or how far we’ve come since we had to sweep the soot off our doorsteps several times a day (this is still a hard reality in some local communities). But let’s be careful about conflating progress with success and becoming apathetic as a result. . . "

Presented by:
- Allegheny Conference on Community Development
- Carnegie Mellon University, Scott Institute for Energy Innovation and Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research
- Center for Energy, University of Pittsburgh
- Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at the WVU College of Law
- Center for Energy Policy and Management, Washington & Jefferson College
- Duquesne MBA Sustainability Program
- Falk School of Sustainability, Chatham University
- Green Building Alliance
- GTECH
- Institute of Politics, University of Pittsburgh
- Pennsylvania Environmental Council
- Power of 32
- Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
- Sustainable Pittsburgh
- West Virginia University
(these already committed; numerous additional Presenting organizations invited)
Our region is blessed with abundant energy resources, globally-leading expertise, and a willingness to collaborate to do things smarter than anyplace else. But when it comes to energy, we don’t yet have a plan for where we are going.

Come and take part in the first formative steps toward identifying our region's energy future and developing strategies to assure our economic competitiveness and high quality of life.

"Energy for the Power of 32: 32 Counties, 4 States, 1 Energy Future" will unite the region around newfound understanding of where our energy comes from, where it's consumed, and how it gets from one to the other—and introduce a civic dialogue on plotting the course for our region's smartest energy future.

Yes, energy production, distribution and conservation should be at the core of a critical national debate. But regions like ours can't wait for the federal government to address the issues and opportunities. Regions are the centers of energy development, transmission, consumption, storage, and conservation. They breed networks for innovation. And they have the opportunity to establish actionable energy goals integrating aspirations for economy, equity, and environment.

With our heritage and assets, the Power of 32 region has the potential to be among the nation's first to lead this trend on energy planning. By bridging borders and recognizing shared challenges and opportunities, our region is differentiated in its commitment to improving the future of 32 counties in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Don’t miss this opportunity to be an influential part of an important effort to innovate our region’s brightest energy future. More information, including registration, draft agenda, and event highlights, available at www.energy4p32.org.

Do you live in a Certified Sustainable community?

Fifty municipalities have achieved or pledged to become certified through the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification Program. Recently expanded statewide, this program aims not only to recognize sustainability pacesetters, but also to provide a framework for implementing sustainable policies and practices. Sustainable Pittsburgh worked with the Pennsylvania Municipal League to grow the program into a statewide project.

The old adage “all politics is local” places local government in a unique position to lead the way to sustainable community development. Many municipalities are already realizing the benefits of the Sustainable Community Essentials Certification.

Brian Wolovich, Councilmember for the Borough of Millvale, a Gold certified municipality, shared these remarks with Sustainable Pittsburgh: “As the Borough of Millvale goes deeper into planning and creating a 21st Century neighborhood we understand that the health, sustainability, and viability of the community are undeniably tied together in a web. The Sustainable Community Essentials Certification program provided Millvale with an accessible, objective methodology for creating a baseline assessment of current community sustainability practices and feedback on areas where we can continue to focus and build. It simultaneously gives a snapshot of where we are, and where we need to go."

Similarly, Christopher J. Caruso, Assistant Township Manager/Planning Administrator of Findlay Township, a Silver certified community, shared the following: “Completing the sustainable community essentials certification enlightened our leaders and residents on the efforts taken by Findlay Township to be a community committed to being a steward of our resources. The certification assessment has helped us to assess the efficiencies of our operations and policies going forward.”

Become a 2014 member of Sustainable Pittsburgh and help us carry out SP’s mission to affect decision-making in the Pittsburgh region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality bringing sustainable solutions for communities and businesses.

Join today and get a 50% discount on your 2014 membership rate!

Through Sustainable Pittsburgh’s direct efforts, this year so far has seen:

Today the Local Government Academy (LGA), during its 2014 Recognition Luncheon, recognized Advocates for Good Government, program instructors, participants in the 2014 Municipal Intern Program, and the Allegheny League of Municipalities' 2014 Banner Communities. Additionally, the luncheon recognized municipalities that have achieved certification as sustainable communities through the Sustainable PA Community Certification Program. Students participating in the Municipal Intern program assisted their host municipalities to pursue certification. Congratulations LGA interns and sustainable certified municipalities!

UPMC first to achieve Champion level per SWPA Sustainable Business Compact“Champion” is currently the highest level of sustainability performance recognized by the Compact

Today Sustainable Pittsburgh announced UPMC has met the Champion level of achievement via the Southwestern Pennsylvania Sustainable Business Compact. This is the highest level of sustainability performance of any regional company recognized by the Compact to date. Tailored to this region’s unique sustainability needs and opportunities, the Compact provides a performance pathway for mid to large size businesses in SWPA to grow, build, and demonstrate their sustainability commitments and practices.

UPMC, as the first company to achieve the Champion level, has achieved a score of 300 out of 330 Essential Points (EP's), and provided public disclosure for 100% of the completed actions, an unprecedented level of disclosure of information supporting its assertions for meeting the Champion level standards. More information about UPMC’s performance will be available on Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Champions for Sustainability website, www.C4SPgh.org/compact.

Today, Court Gould, Executive Director, Sustainable Pittsburgh provided testimony at the Public Hearing on EPA’s Clean Power Plan, Pittsburgh, PA. To read his full remarks, please visit this link.

Heinz Endowments' Youth Philanthropy Interns explore community issues with radio features

In July 2014, thirty-two recent high-school graduates created these radio features while serving as Summer Interns at The Heinz Endowments. The resulting features cover a range of community issues. While The Saturday Light Brigade provided training and coaching, the features presented here were conceived and created entirely by the students in a single week. Topics include: impact of wood burning on air quality, perception of life in public housing communities, civic engagement, and much more!

Funding opportunity of up to $25,000 for eligible southwestern PA municipalities
Municipalities in southwestern Pennsylvania are invited to apply for up to $25,000 in grants funds to mitigate light pollution and save on energy costs. In partnership with the Local Government Academy, interns participating in The Heinz Endowments’ Summer Youth Philanthropy Intern Program at Sustainable Pittsburgh have issued a request for proposals regarding “The Astronomical Footprint.” Proposals are due Monday, July 28, 2014 by 5:00 pm EST.

Mitigating light pollution pays multiple dividends such as cutting the cost of electric bills and subsequently reducing the amount of carbon emissions associated with the generation of electricity.

Advocating change to alleviate light pollution starts with local government. The Summer Youth Philanthropy interns seek to fund municipalities that partner with a nonprofit(s), and/or other community-based organizations to mitigate sources of light pollution by establishing a (or specifically expanding the scope of an existing) special citizens committee that has standing with the municipal government.

To be considered for this grant, municipalities must earn or pledge to earn certification through the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification program. This program can be found online at: www.sustainablepacommunitycertification.org. The initial password to access the certification log in can be obtained by calling (412) 258-6643.

Municipalities: Please use this direct link to complete the application: www.GrantRequest.com/SID_1492?SA=SNA&FID=35019
NOTE: After you start this application using the link above and if you need to go back to review (before you submit), the link on the Heinz website to log in to existing applications will work for applicants. The above link will always take you to a brand new blank application.

Keynote: Eric Roston, Sustainability Editor at Bloomberg, New York City

Join Sustainable Pittsburgh's Champions for Sustainability business network in exploring frontline issues of materiality and sustainability as they have been initiated through performance programs such as the Global Reporting Initiative, SASB Accounting Requirements, Carbon Disclosure Project, and Dow Jones Sustainability Index and regionally through the Southwestern Pennsylvania Sustainable Business Compact.
Participants will gain answers to the following questions:
- What is materiality in sustainable business performance?
- What is driving the need and interest in meeting materiality reporting requirements?
- How might materiality affect my industry?
- What are businesses doing to address trends in materiality transparency?
- What is happening in SWPA in response to these trends?

Program Highlights:
- Special keynote speaker Eric Roston, Sustainability Editor at Bloomberg, will discuss observed trends, struggles, and successes in meeting materiality requirements.
- Featured speaker Mike Wallace, Managing Director, BrownFlynn, will share his experiences in working with major businesses as they approach addressing materiality reporting.
- A panel of regional corporate leaders will discuss their experiences with materiality in Sustainability issues from a regional perspective.

Who Should Attend?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) managers, sustainability managers, business leaders and community leaders who increasingly are concerned about materiality requirements and sustainability strategies as part of a firm's operational practice and who want to get some helpful guidance.

Funding opportunity of up to $25,000 for eligible southwestern PA municipalities

Municipalities in southwestern Pennsylvania are invited to apply for up to $25,000 in grants funds to mitigate light pollution and save on energy costs. In partnership with the Local Government Academy, interns participating in The Heinz Endowments’ Summer Youth Philanthropy Intern Program at Sustainable Pittsburgh have issued a request for proposals regarding “The Astronomical Footprint.” Proposals are due Monday, July 28, 2014 by 5:00 pm EST.

Mitigating light pollution pays multiple dividends such as cutting the cost of electric bills and subsequently reducing the amount of carbon emissions associated with the generation of electricity.

Advocating change to alleviate light pollution starts with local government. The Summer Youth Philanthropy interns seek to fund municipalities that partner with a nonprofit(s), and/or other community-based organizations to mitigate sources of light pollution by establishing a (or specifically expanding the scope of an existing) special citizens committee that has standing with the municipal government.

To be considered for this grant, municipalities must earn or pledge to earn certification through the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification program. This program can be found online at: www.sustainablepacommunitycertification.org. The initial password to access the certification log in can be obtained by calling (412) 258-6643.

Congratulations to leaders of the 2013-2014 Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge!

On Wednesday, June 25, Sustainable Pittsburgh revealed the top scorers of the 2013-2014 Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge, a yearlong competition for businesses, nonprofits, municipalities, and universities to track and measure improvements in energy, water, waste, and transportation. The finale and awards ceremony took place during an evening reception at Chatham University’s Shadyside campus.
Over 100 organizations signed up for the challenge, which began in June 2013 and ended on May 31, 2014.

Participants submitted a total of 1,668 actions, contributing to a more sustainable southwestern Pennsylvania. The core of the actions focused on measuring reductions in resource usage on a year-to-year comparison basis. Some actions encouraged investments to upgrade workplace environments, such as more efficient lighting, while others focused on engaging employees and volunteering in the local community.

Congratulations to all who participated in the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge!

Sustainable Pittsburgh is pleased to announce that its municipal certification program, the SWPA Sustainable Community Essentials Certification, has been adopted by the Pennsylvania Municipal League (PML) for expansion statewide! PML will administer the certification making it available to all local governments around the state. It’s new name is the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification. Sustainable Pittsburgh, with PML, will continue to advance the program in southwestern Pennsylvania and looks forward to those municipalities already certified, and those to come, being in a much bigger pool for recognition.

Designed for municipalities that are working to save money, conserve resources, and serve vibrant communities, the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification program is an online certification system that provides a structure and performance platform for recognition of municipalities as they embrace sustainable policies and programs. The certification process remains free of charge.

The origins of the sustainable municipal certification began in 2010, when Sustainable Pittsburgh launched an online tool that enabled residents and municipalities to review progress in implementing sustainability initiatives within a municipality. The tool, called Sustainable Community Essentials Rapid Assessment, provided a uniform definition, measures, and an accepted suite of practices that define community and regional sustainability. Evolving the tool into the current formal certification program affords municipalities a platform for baselining performance and gaining recognition and a pathway for progress. The program also self-populates an online library of best practices as municipalities provide validation to the some 131 certification criteria. Over 25 municipalities in southwestern Pennsylvania have achieved certification, ranging in level from Associate to Gold, with a dozen more having pledged to complete the process.

Get ready for the big finish! On Wednesday, June 25, join the field of GWC Competitors and Sustainable Pittsburgh at this evening reception as we unveil the final leader board standings for the 2013-2014 Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge!

Keynote Speaker:
- Dr. Gregory Reed, Director of the Electric Power Initiative and the Electric Power Systems Laboratory, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Reed will present exciting, innovative developments and opportunities related to the ways we will use electric power more efficiently in the near future.

Join us in celebrating the achievements of these leading organizations! View who’s in the running by clicking the Leader Board link on the GWC website.

Sustainable Pittsburgh was privileged to be among Pittsburgh region folks who soaked up Denver's urban revitalization story this week through the Allegheny Conference on Community Development's “Leader to Leader” benchmarking trip.

The Denver trip was part of the Conference’s 2015-2017 agenda setting process, where best practices relevant to Pittsburgh were explored. You'll recall the Conference began more than 40 listening sessions at Sustainability EXPOsed last December which set the process off to a great start with sustainability principles at the fore. (View the summary report out from that formative engagement.)

The Denver trip added to the Allegheny Conference's community engagement by expanding the purview in sizing up a comparable, world-class city. Denver was a great choice. The Conference led a remarkable tour of nonstop visitations with Denver's civic leadership. Topics examined included workforce development, transit planning and financing, energy and sustainability, public health and well-being, complete streets, transit oriented development, and more. The instructive takeaways are many as Denver is really on the move, literally in the case of their enormous transit build out.

Above all impressions perhaps is a deeper appreciation that our Pittsburgh region is profoundly well-poised right now. The short list of stars aligned includes:

our region’s stellar top elected leaders who really "get it", are approachable, and hungry to lead

philanthropic, nonprofit, and corporate leadership that too are ready to deepen collaborations, experiment, take sober assessment and accept accountability in tackling big goals

the gorgeousness of our region whose natural environs are very choice in underpinning quality of life and has become nonnegotiable in the competition for talent attraction

rising regional commitment to the prerequisites of diversity and inclusiveness, place making, revitalization of existing communities vs sprawl, public transportation, excellence in public education, environmental protection, and understanding of the reality that private investment follows public investment in these foundations for building sustainable communities

These are our region's days. We will all long remember what transpires right now as a defining point for the Pittsburgh region's sustainability....for those here now and those to come in carrying the baton for the good life.

Denver sculpture

Sustainability Assessment: Revisiting The Mall at Robinson
In 2006, Sustainable Pittsburgh deployed its Sustainable Solutions consultancy to conduct a comprehensive Sustainability Assessment of The Mall at Robinson. General Manager Beth Edwards and her team have been working diligently these past years to implement the many recommendations for saving energy, reducing waste, and conserving resources. She notes, "Our sustainability program has led to substantial savings and efficiencies," Among measured results, The Mall now uses 43% less energy, 54% less water, and since our work, has recycled nearly three million pounds of garbage that's not ending up in a landfill near you.

Our Sustainable Solutions approach features assembling a tailor made team of professionals to examine a wide range of sustainability opportunities addressing management, operations, and facilities. To date we have had the privilege of providing our services to: The Mall at Robinson, Cranberry Township, Borough of Wilkinsburg, YWCA Homewood-Brushton Community Center, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, and YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh.

Participants in the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge (GWC) are working fast to submit their final actions to Sustainable Pittsburgh this week. The deadline to submit actions for points is 11:59 pm on May 31, 2014, and so far the competition is tight. Any organization could come out as the top performer in its category at the end of this race!

Over 100 businesses, nonprofits, municipalities, and universities from southwestern Pennsylvania signed up for this yearlong competition to track and measure improvements in energy, water, waste, and transportation. Find out who the leaders are at the awards ceremony and celebration on Wednesday, June 25! During this evening social gathering, Sustainable Pittsburgh will unveil the final leader board standings and will host keynote speaker, Dr. Gregory Reed, Director of the Electric Power Initiative and the Electric Power Systems Laboratory in the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Reed will present some inspiring stories of innovation in efficiency in electric power grid and energy generation, transmission, and distribution system technologies, micro-grids, and DC infrastructure.

Come hear how the leading GWC organizations and their employees achieved success. See how they positively impacted the region, from cost savings to resource efficiencies to an engaged workforce.

Top scorers will be announced in the following categories:
Large Business
Medium Business
Small Business
Medium Nonprofits
Small Nonprofits
Universities
Municipalities

View who’s in the running by clicking the Leader Board link on the GWC website. In the meantime, stay tuned for more details and mark your calendar for June 25! Join us in celebrating the achievements of these leading organizations.

WE'VE MOVED!

Effective May 23, 2014: Sustainable Pittsburgh has a new mailing address.

Get ready for the big finish! On Wednesday, June 25, come celebrate all the participants who displayed their grit and competitive spirit during the 2013-2014 Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge! Over 100 businesses, nonprofits, municipalities, and universities from southwestern Pennsylvania signed up for this yearlong competition to track and measure improvements in energy, water, waste, and transportation.

During this evening social gathering, see how these leaders positively impacted the region, from cost savings to resource efficiencies to an engaged workforce. To date, participants have completed over 1050 actions and saved over 50 million kilowatt hours of energy. This is enough to power over 4450 home for a year, translating to over $3.3 million in savings!

Sustainable Pittsburgh will announce the top scorers in the following categories:
Large Business
Medium Business
Small Business
Medium Nonprofits
Small Nonprofits
Universities
Municipalities

See who’s in the running by clicking the Leader Board link on the GWC website. In the meantime, stay tuned for more details and mark your calendar for June 25! Join us for a fun celebration of the achievements of these leading organizations.

3E Thinks (Current events through the sustainability lens)
Recently Sustainable Pittsburgh initiated a new feature in 3E Links called “3E Thinks.” This is a spot for providing thoughtful statements that contribute a sustainability compass to current events. Following is 3E Thinks for April 17:

Scarlet Letter "A" for air pollution
This week's news regarding efforts to curb emissions from coal burning power plants displays the paradox of environment vs. economy calculus in a Commonwealth overly reliant on fossil energy and one that cares deeply about the health of its residents.

On the national scene this week, a federal appeals court upheld EPA's first emissions standards for mercury and other hazardous air pollutants from fossil fired power plants. In doing so the court rejected state and industry challenges to the rules (Governor Corbett objected but Attorney General Kane did not).

This week also brought news of analysis finding that Pennsylvania's proposal to control smog-forming emissions from coal-fired power plants sets limits so lax that most of those facilities could continue to operate without the pollution controls they've already installed.

With a reported more than 8 million Pennsylvanians residing in communities that do not meet federal air quality standards, it's no wonder there's a ground swell of civic alarm. The dots have been clearly connected between air pollution, debilitating health impacts, and people productivity. Clarity of insights is coming faster than of our air.

Surveys repeatedly show voters across the country, including Pennsylvania, support the reality that it is possible to both protect the air and public health and have a strong economy over the falsehood that we must choose one or the other. The sustainably-minded public welcomes sustainability's promise that strengthening environmental/people safeguards creates, not destroys, jobs by encouraging innovation, investment in new technologies, and a longer term view of maximizing well-being. Air quality is a great sustainability indicator whose time has come to flip from scarlet letter to feather in our cap.

SAVE THE DATE!
Donate to Sustainable Pittsburgh during Pittsburgh’s Day of Giving: May 6

This year’s Day of Giving, set for Tuesday, May 6, is being held in conjunction with the Give Local America Initiative, a U.S.-wide day of fundraising events organized by more than 100 community foundations across the country. The May 6 event takes the place of the “PittsburghGives “day traditionally held in October.

On May 6, between the hours of 6:00 am and 12:00 am (midnight), individuals will have the opportunity to donate to nonprofits that primarily serve Allegheny, Butler, and Westmoreland Counties. Note this timeframe is different from the 24 hour period available in prior years.

Organizations will receive a pro-rated portion of the match pool. Donations must be a minimum of $25 via credit card (Visa or Mastercard). Matching funds are available up to the first $1000 contributed by a donor.

Please consider donating to Sustainable Pittsburgh!

PittsburghGives is an initiative of The Pittsburgh Foundation. The purpose of this initiative is to:
- Increase the level of knowledge about nonprofits in the region
- Leverage or increase individual funding or organizations or an issue in the community
- Spotlight the charitable trends in the region. Where are people giving? What are the community’s nonprofits saying is vital and needed right now?

More information, including profiles of participating nonprofits, are available at www.pittsburghgives.org. Explore which nonprofits you want to support and get ready for Tuesday, May 6!

4.10.14 - Last week Sustainable Pittsburgh initiated a new feature in its weekly e-newsletter (3E Links) called “3E Thinks.” This is a spot for providing thoughtful statements that contribute a sustainability compass to current events. Following is SP’s 3E Thinks on drilling under parks.

3E Thinks (current events through the sustainability lens)

Park lands are a public compensation to counter and provide refuge from rapid urbanization. Such foresight in stewardship squares with sustainability's core definition of meeting present needs without compromising the same of tomorrow's people.

Sustainability tenets also guide to not pollute at a rate faster than nature can neutralize, recycle, and replenish. Shale development in public parks does not square with this sustainability principle due to potential impacts to park waters, land, and air. Sustainability favors what has been practiced to date: protected park lands provide huge economic payoffs when factoring their natural capital/ecological stocks which perpetually contribute environmental, social, and economic dividends.

2014 is off to a great start thanks in part to Sustainable Pittsburgh members and donors! Sustainable Pittsburgh truly appreciates the individuals, nonprofits, businesses, and municipalities that support the organization with a financial contribution.

Sustainable Development Academy training, Smart Growth Conferences, and other programming series

You deserve a sustainably developed region. Invest in Sustainable Pittsburgh’s success through an annual contribution. There is still time to join or renew your membership! Please visit your membership page to get started .

In addition to SP’s generous individual members, SP thanks the following organizations for their support:

On Thursday, March 27, Sustainable Pittsburgh released the latest data demonstrating the positive impact the 103 participants of the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge (GWC) have had on the region since the yearlong competition began last June. The participating businesses, municipalities, nonprofits, and universities from southwestern Pennsylvania achieved the following results to date:

Total energy saved: 20,075,416 kWh
- Equivalent to removing 1,780 homes from the grid for a year
- Value of energy saved: over $1.32 million
- Dollar savings factored in the social cost of carbon: $1.36 - 1.48 million*

Greenhouse gas reduction: 3,021 MTCO2e
- Translates to the emissions of 75 airline flights of 500 miles, or about half a day’s air traffic at Pittsburgh International Airport

Total water savings: 2,128,200 gallons
- Equivalent to 23 average U.S. homes’ annual water usage

Who is leading in the Challenge?
To view the current leader board standings, please visit www.gwcpgh.org and click Leader Board on the top menu. The standings are organized by category.

Sustainable Pittsburgh shared these updates during a combination GWC workshop and 6th annual Sustainability Conference, hosted in partnership with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Pittsburgh Section and the Environmental, Water and Resources Institute (EWRI). The daylong event was an opportunity for technical and policy experts to share the latest on innovative thinking and technologies. A major common theme, served up by keynote Mayor Peduto, is the opportunity to focus at the intersection of systems such as green infrastructure, stormwater, energy, and transportation for sustainable development. Through this, there is the potential to yield practical benefits for Pittsburgh and the region.

*A technical update to Executive Order 12866 from May 2013 describes Social Cost of Carbon as “an estimate of the monetized damages associated with an incremental increase in carbon emissions in a given year. It is intended to include (but is not limited to) changes in net agricultural productivity, human health, property damages from increased flood risk, and the value of ecosystem services due to climate change.”

Accolades for the 18 Certified Sustainable Municipalities

Through an underwriting campaign on 90.5 WESA and 91.3 WYEP, Sustainable Pittsburgh is bringing community accolades to the eighteen municipalities in southwestern Pennsylvania that have earned recognition through SP’s Sustainable Community Essentials Certification.

Ranging in certification level from Bronze through Gold, these municipalities have met the program's rigorous performance criteria, which tracks 131 policies and practices that define a sustainable community.

The Sustainable Community Essentials Certification assists municipalities with saving money, conserving resources and serving vibrant communities. Municipal officials, there is still time to complete the certification and be recognized. We can even provide hands-on assistance to get you started. Call us at (412) 258-6643 or visit www.sustainablecommunityessentials.org to learn more.
What you will find on the certification website
The certification website is chock full of useful information:
- Click “View Certified Municipalities near you” to see a list of certified municipalities and also those that have pledged to become certified.

- View the information municipalities provided to earn certification.
Once you access the list of certified municipalities, you will notice their names are live web links. These links allow access to the policies and practices the municipality claimed and points earned. From here one can follow web links (little green boxes) provided by the municipality to material on their website that the municipality provided as validation of their certification points earned.

- The “Learn” button on the home page includes a drop down menu link to a “Library of Sustainable Municipal Policies and Practices.” Tracking all 131 certification criteria, this library is automatically populated as municipalities provide their web links to validate their points earned.

Videos of Paul Hawken and other Sustainability EXPOsed speakers ready to view!Compilation of recommendations and ideas also available

On behalf of the eight organizations* that hosted Sustainability EXPOsed on 12/10/13, Sustainable Pittsburgh is pleased to announce that videos of the presenters (featuring keynote Paul Hawken) are now available for viewing online. In addition, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development has prepared a compilation of recommendations and ideas generated from the event's facilitated afternoon session that served as input to their next regional agenda setting process.

*EXPOsed Host organizations:
Allegheny Conference on Community Development
Chatham University, Falk School of Sustainability
Duquesne University (Sustainability MBA Program and the Center for Environmental Research & Education)
Green Building Alliance
Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research, Carnegie Mellon
Sustainable Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh - Institute of Politics
Urban Innovation21

Welcome new and returning members!

Thank you for your consideration in joining Sustainable Pittsburgh!

Sustainable Pittsburgh is a nonprofit that works to accelerate the policy and practice of sustainability in southwestern Pennsylvania. We work to identify those levers of change that when pulled, create at scale change for the region. Our primary focus is working with businesses and municipalities.

The Green Cities Sustainability Corps is a project of the Student Conservation Association (SCA). Members (Fellows) engage in projects with local government, nonprofits, community groups, neighborhoods, and businesses to mitigate climate change and increase sustainability initiatives. Welcome, Kim, Tacy, and Sarah!

1.23.14

Sustainability insights gained from survey of municipalities

What motivates municipalities to reach for and achieve sustainability certification? How can the community reap added value by participating?

Sustainable Pittsburgh recently set out to answer these questions and more by surveying municipalities that have earned recognition in its Sustainable Community Essentials Certification program. This program is a platform for demonstrating excellence, accelerating the policy and practice of good government, and gaining recognition.

Following are insights from the survey:

- Most municipalities (73% of respondents) used the Certification as a platform to share the municipality’s success to date.
- The second most cited reason for completing the Certification (64% of respondents) was to use it as a goal-setting tool for future strategies.
- 100% of respondents indicated the Certification was “Very Helpful” or “Somewhat Helpful” in meeting their identified purpose(s).
- External support from Sustainable Pittsburgh in completing the process proved to be beneficial in enabling municipalities to complete the Certification.

“The feedback and rating system provides a roadmap for future improvements,”

“Not only has [the Certification] helped us share our stories, etc. but has inspired us as we see what all we are doing and it helps us to strive for even more.”

“The certification process was extremely useful in many ways. In terms of an unintended consequence, the certification has provided a great entree to communicate with the public on our efforts to promote sustainability.”

“Since completing the questionnaire, the Township has developed a sustainability team to discuss how we can make additional improvements.”

This workshop’s main focus is on financial opportunities related to energy and waste audits: What do they typically cost? How much money, energy, and waste can be saved? What funding opportunities are available?

Presenters and panelists will discuss ways of offsetting the costs of conducting energy audits with ACT 129 rebates for improved efficiency, electrical equipment as well as demand response programs. Experts will share how to formulate a financial plan as well as set expectations for how long it will take to achieve payback on investments in equipment. By the end of this workshop, you will have answers to these key questions and plans for moving ahead with resource and financial savings.

GWC Participants Submitted over 500 Actions! Congratulations!
Congratulations to the 2013-2014 PGH Green Workplace Challenge participants! Together they have submitted over 500 actions/achievements. These participants have nearly surpassed the total number of actions submitted for last year's competition and there are still five months remaining. Stay tuned for more GWC impacts!

01.09.14

Carnegie businesses continue to make headlines with sustainability
This week the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Diana Nelson Jones spoke with Carnegie businesses about how their sustainability efforts are leading to positive results. Six businesses in the borough achieved Sustainable Small Business Designation through Sustainable Pittsburgh. In early November, Sustainable Pittsburgh hosted a "cash mob" to highlight the leadership and commitment of these businesses to a stronger, local business district.

This past Tuesday (12/10), the Spirit of Pittsburgh Ballroom of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center was abuzz with mind blowing presentations and rich audience deliberations about how the promise of sustainability continues to underpin the ongoing transformation of our region.

On behalf of the eight organizations* that hosted Sustainability EXPOsed, thanks to all who filled the ballroom throughout the day. This high level of engagement made for a milestone event.

Among highlights were the amazing presentations, the audience’s rapt attention during Paul Hawken's presentation and subsequent standing ovation, 32 exhibitors, intimate salon discussions, and large volume of wise recommendations provided during the Allegheny Conference's facilitated input session to the launch of their regional agenda setting process.

What was the overarching takeaway of the day? The central theme was that Sustainability delivers on the promise to reinvigorate the Pittsburgh region's legendary DNA to innovate its way through and around adversity and to continually reinvent itself. New insight comes from the wisdom of nature, where, through "mutuality," all living organizations and systems are connected and benefit one another. For our region this means moving toward and nurturing systems for energy, food, resource conservation, commerce, development, and citizen participation that are localized, collaborative, and interdependent to maximize community benefits (ecologic, social, and economic).

Businesses that understand and act from the perspective of mutuality find and celebrate their niches that support their communities and each other. This is a shift away from the misconception of the winner-take-all competitive model for businesses to an emerging social benefit model for which a business’ license to operate links directly to its value in improving community.

The Pittsburgh region is uniquely positioned to be the prominent site for this shift to building an ecosystem for enterprise and development based on the concepts of mutuality and innovation. The result can be a rising to the top of the economic value chain while achieving a transition to a more equitable, prosperous, and natural systems-sustaining economy. Through recognizing and building on the strengths of mutual interdependence will come the correction of unsustainable issues that nag our region, such as poor air quality, social isolation/exclusion, resource depletion, and rapacious business practices that “steal the future.”

EXPOsed naturally was packed with many exciting insights from among the speakers who covered issues of transportation, social equity, energy and water, B Corps movement, urbanization, air quality, technology, sustainable behavior, and much more.

Stayed tuned and draw your own conclusions as the videos of the EXPOsed presentations will be posted to the EXPOsed web page in early January. Additionally, by the end of January, we can look forward to the Allegheny Conference on Community Development's summary report of EXPOsed audience recommendations gained as input to the launch of the Allegheny Conference's next regional agenda setting process.

Until then, best holiday wishes and happy sustainable new year!

Court Gould
Sustainable Pittsburgh

*Allegheny Conference on Community Development
Chatham University, School of Sustainability & the Environment
Duquesne University (Sustainability MBA Program and the Center for Environmental Research & Education)
Green Building Alliance
Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research, Carnegie Mellon
Sustainable Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh - Institute of Politics
Urban Innovation21

Breaking News!
Allegheny County in top 2 percent for cancer risk in U.S. because of air pollution

Findings in a new report by the Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC) at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health show that Allegheny County is in the top two percent in the U.S. for cancer risk from air pollution. A regional coalition of nonprofits, including Sustainable Pittsburgh, issued common-sense recommendations for the region in light of the report’s findings.

Since October 2013, twelve new municipalities achieved or pledged to become certified through Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Sustainable Community Essentials Certification Program. This program aims to not only recognize the region’s sustainability pacesetters, but also to provide a framework for implementing sustainable policies and practices. See the certification website for insights to these leading local governments.

The old adage “all politics is local” places local government in a unique position to lead the way to sustainable community development. Many municipalities are already realizing the benefits of the Sustainable Community Essentials Certification.

“Completing the [certification] enlightened our leaders and residents on the efforts taken by Findlay Township to be a community committed to being a steward of our resources,” indicated Christopher Caruso, Assistant Township Manager. “The certification assessment has helped us to assess the efficiencies of our operations and policies going forward.”

Jeff Naftal, Borough Manager, Borough of Dormont, said, “The process of attaining certification was very easy and the questions allowed me to see where we are on sustainability and where we still need to go.”

Municipal leadership has a unique opportunity to attain certification. For a limited time, Sustainable Pittsburgh is offering free one on one, in your office, assistance where, in just a few hours, municipalities can complete the process and attain certification. For more information, contact Grace Evans at 412-258-6649 or gevans@sustainablepittsburgh.org.

Over 60 individuals "mobbed" six small businesses in Carnegie Borough as part of a Cash Mob on November 1 between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm. The event showcased the recent designation of these businesses as sustainable through Sustainable Pittsburgh's "Sustainable Small Business Designation Program" and customers voted their approval with their wallets.

Organized by Sustainable Pittsburgh, in collaboration with Carnegie Borough, the Carnegie Community Development Corporation, and Allegheny County's Allegheny Together program, the Cash Mob resulted in doubling the customer activity and sales in 5 of the 6 businesses as compared to typical Friday lunch hours and increased overall foot traffic for all participants. One business reported the two hour cash mob generated the same amount of profit typically earned in a full day.

Sustainable businesses take actions that simultaneously are good for their bottom line, the environment, and the social fabric of their communities. The success of this first Cash Mob in Carnegie demonstrates the win-win strategy of being a sustainable business: they become recognized leaders in the community and the increased awareness draws in new customers.

Sustainable Pittsburgh invites all small business owners in Southwestern Pennsylvania to participate in its Small Business Designation program. For more information visit: www.C4SPGH.org/smallbiz. Let us know if your community would be interested in hosting the next Sustainable Small Business Cash Mob!

December 10 will be here before you know it. Register today for Sustainability EXPOsed!

Get ready for a whirlwind of ideas that will change the way you think about our region and the world -- and sustainability itself. EXPOsed features 11 remarkable speakers in an exciting format to surprise, motivate, and lead to action. Roll-up your sleeves and get to work during the event through salon-style discussion, interaction with exhibitors, and a facilitated session by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development to collect your recommendations as it develops its next three-year agenda. Keynote provided by globally renowned sustainability leader, Paul Hawken (with introduction by Andre Heinz). Presenting Sponsor is BNY Mellon. For more information, click the image below or use this link: www.sustainablepittsburgh.org/exposed

Group Against Smog and Pollution and Sustainable Pittsburgh invite you to the first ever Clean Air Dash and Festival! Brought to you by the support of the Heinz Endowment’s Breathe Project, this USATF Certified 5K will take place on October 19th at 9am in the South Side Riverfront Park.

Non-runners will enjoy a lively community festival with food, activities, and an educational fun run/walk. Scale the Venture Outdoors Climbing wall, hone your football skills with a member of the Pittsburgh Passion, enjoy tasty grub from food trucks and much more!

Businesses continually have opportunities to improve upon their operations by embracing proven, smart, and sustainable principles. Such "Smart Growth" strategies can be integrated into the way facilities are operated, how they are designed, and where they are situated. Smart Growth choices provide beneficial answers to vital operations-related questions, such as:

Join the Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania (ESWP) and Sustainable Pittsburgh's Champions for Sustainability business network in exploring how to address these types of questions during the third program in the SWPA Sustainable Business Compact workshop series.

Participants will learn about:
-Examples of Smart Growth motivated practices that companies can follow to be achieve higher facility operational performance
- Bottom line benefits that come with effective transportation solutions
- Strategies for updating, designing, or relocating their facilities using Smart Growth principles
- Helpful guidance on making progress in meeting the certification requirements of the SWPA Sustainable Business Compact's Smart Growth essentials

This event is the third of four workshops planned for 2013 highlighting leadership in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Sustainable Business Compact. The Compact is a credible and rigorous pathway for businesses to advance and publicly demonstrate their corporate sustainability achievements. While attendees are not required to sign on to the Compact, businesses participating in the Compact:

For 24 hours only, on Thursday, October 3, you have the opportunity to make your donations to area nonprofits go farther. Credit card donations (minimum $25) to nonprofits made online at pittsburghgives.org will be matched on a prorated basis from a pool of $750,000! For complete details, please visit Pittsburghgives.org.

Sustainability EXPOsed - Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Register Today!

Where can you find innovative, real-world solutions for your sustainability challenges, delivered in high powered, short, and motivating presentations? Sustainability EXPOsed of course! This dynamic event on Tuesday, December 10 now features nine sustainability experts from around the country, including the keynote from environmentalist/author/entrepreneur Paul Hawken, with a special introduction by Andre Heinz! Additionally, Sustainability EXPOsed serves as a forum to collect your input for the Allegheny Conference's regional strategic planning.

This is a rare opportunity to have so many bright leaders under one roof, for one day! Conceived as a combination ideas/best practices expo, conversational salon and regional strategic planning forum, Sustainability EXPOsed will provide a dynamic venue for exploring, challenging, and recommending innovative approaches to sustainability opportunities. Register today!

About Paul Hawken
Paul is one of the most respected and widely read thought leaders of the sustainable business movement. His work includes starting ecological businesses, writing about the impact of commerce on living systems, and consulting with heads of state and CEOs on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. He has appeared on numerous media including the Today Show, Larry King, Talk of the Nation, Charlie Rose, has been profiled or featured in hundreds of articles, and his writings have appeared in numerous publications, including the Harvard Business Review, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Mother Jones, and Utne Reader.

Paul has written seven books including four national bestsellers, The Next Economy, Growing a Business, The Ecology of Commerce and Blessed Unrest. The Ecology of Commerce was voted in 1998 as the #1 college text on business and the environment by professors in 67 business schools. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, co-authored with Amory Lovins, has been read and referred to by several heads of state including President Bill Clinton who called it one of the five most important books in the world today.

Donald Carter, Director of the Remaking Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and Chair of the Master of Urban Design program in the School of Architecture
"Remaking Cities: Manifesto for the development and redevelopment of post-industrial cities"

For 24 hours only, on Thursday, October 3, you have the opportunity to make your donations to area nonprofits go further. Credit card donations (minimum $25) to nonprofits made online at pittsburghgives.org will be matched on a prorated basis from a pool of $750,000!

Speaking of innovation, you'll be pleased to know the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is working with SP to conduct a sustainability assessment. For more about how SP is providing Sustainable Solutions to leading businesses and organizations, go to: sustainablepittsburgh.org/services.html

Help SP continue to accelerate the policy and practice of sustainability in SWPA. Join SP now through September 30 to receive 50% off membership dues for 2013 through December 31! Join easily online at: sustainablepittsburgh.org/joinsustainable2013.html

Thanks for your consideration!

8.8.13Registration now open

8.1.13 Sustainability - the new business as usual

The 7/4/12 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, "PPG Industries sets big agenda for sustainability," underscores a story we know well. Businesses in our region are increasingly adopting sustainability as their success strategy. Examples are growing of all types of enterprises operating in more efficient ways that lead to positive wins for the environment, finances, employees, and the community at large.

By going online and reviewing the sustainability pacesetters, one can sort those who simply profess from those who are the real doers deserving of our approval, patronage, and serving as examples of best management practice. Join us in hastening the pace of regional prosperity one sustainable business, municipality, and nonprofit at a time.

Sustainable Pittsburgh commends these organizations for their leadership in advancing green practices in their workplaces and the region! To learn more, and see who's participating, please visit gwcpgh.org

7.18.13 SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
Sign up for the PGH Green Workplace Challenge by July 31 - Enter drawing for chance to win prizes

As if saving money and gaining public accolades for your organization’s green achievements wasn’t enough, sign up today for the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge (GWC) to be eligible to win prizes that not only benefit your organization but also get you ahead of the competition.

All GWC participants signing up by July 31st are entered into a drawing to win a combination of the following (their choice), valued in total at approximately $1,500:
- Energy Audit
- Waste, Recycling, Green Procurement assessment via Pennsylvania Resources Council
- ZipCar credit account
- Green Energy Voucher via Community Energy
- Bicycles for a shared office bike program

The GWC is a free, yearlong competition for organizations to save money and gain recognition for energy savings and other green initiatives. Through the GWC, participants track and measure improvements in the areas of energy, water, waste, and transportation. Points are earned based on actions taken.

The GWC is open to businesses, nonprofits, municipalities, and colleges/universities. Participants will compete among peers in their own category type.

Commit to making southwestern Pennsylvania a better place to live and work by signing up for this year’s Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge (GWC)! A yearlong competition, the GWC helps your organization save money while enabling you to track and measure improvements in the areas of energy, water, waste, and commuter habits. Last year’s participants saved over $4.2 million in energy savings alone! Use this competition to showcase and receive credit for your green achievements. The Challenge is open to businesses, nonprofits, municipalities and colleges/universities. The sign-up period ends July 31, 2013.

Attend the first GWC workshop of the year: Hit the Ground Running – Creating Accounts and Setting Baselines!

Sustainable Pittsburgh is excited to announce the first of 12 of its year-long series of GWC participant workshops. Join us on Wednesday, July 31 to learn how to set up your accounts and build your baselines to start tracking the energy, water, waste, and transportation impacts with Portfolio Manager, the EPA WARM tool, and the CommuteInfo transportation tracker.

By setting up these tools and establishing baselines for your competing facilities and sharing your facility information with the Green Workplace Challenge, your organization is eligible to earn at least 34 points in the competition. This is a nice boost to help you hit the ground running for the competition.

Many more additional competition points can be earned by achieving reductions in electric, natural gas, water, waste, and transit impacts, so getting these tools set up and getting your baselines set helps you get out of the starting gate in a strong position.

SAVE THE DATE! Tuesday, December 10, 2013
“Sustainability EXPOsed: Rediscovering sustainability – ideas and innovations that are making business, governance, and community better for our region."

Join the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Sustainable Pittsburgh, and others at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center for an inspiring day. Keynote is renowned author, journalist, environmentalist and entrepreneur, Paul Hawken. (www.paulhawken.com) More details to come!

6.27.13Early leaders step up to the plate for the 2013-2014 Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge

And the competition is on! Sustainable Pittsburgh officially kicked off the 2013-2014 Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge during an energizing event at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium yesterday. Organizations from around southwestern Pennsylvania are now signing on to compete! See who's in so far:

Sign up your organization for the Green Workplace Challenge today at www.gwcpgh.org. The deadline to sign up is July 31, 2013. The competition is open to businesses of all sizes, municipalities, nonprofits, and colleges/universities in southwestern Pennsylvania.

ABOVE: County Executive Rich Fitzgerald addresses the 80+ attendees at yesterday's kick-off event. Following the formal program, attendees were treated to a behind the scenes tour of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Click here to see more photos from the event.

The crux of our input is on opportunity to elevate the planning process with robust regional performance measures for planning, programming, and prioritizing investments in step with the region's goals and objectives... With ample best practices at hand and increasing expectations for performance-based measurement, and with SPC soon to launch it next regional planning process, on many levels it is in SPC's best interest to become a national leader in applied performance measurement.

Join Sustainable Pittsburgh in kicking off the 2013-2014 Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge (GWC) on Wednesday, June 26 at 8:30 am at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium!

The GWC is a yearlong competition that helps your organization save money while enabling you to track and measure improvements in the areas of energy, water, and (new this year) waste, and transportation. This year, the GWC is open to nonprofits, colleges/universities, and municipalities in addition to small, medium, and large businesses in southwestern Pennsylvania.

During the 2011-2012 competition, participants saved enough energy to power nearly 6,000 average U.S. households for a year, saving over $4.2 million. Enough water was saved to fill Heinz Field 13 feet deep!

When an organization is more efficient in its use of resources, it increases profits, reduces cost, and more money is available for reinvestment. Sign up today to compete! Use the GWC to showcase and receive credit for your organization's green achievements.

The kickoff event on June 26 features opening remarks from County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, along with insights from past winners. Be sure to attend to hear the goals for this year!

The sign-up period for the competition ends July 31, 2013. To sign up, simply create an account at www.gwcpgh.org

Learn more about this year's Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge at the new website: www.gwcpgh.org.

5.13Summer of Outdoor Fun begins with Bike to Work Day and Venture Outdoors Festival this weekend!
Did you catch SP's Ginette Walker Vinski on KDKA's Pittsburgh Today Live this morning? Want to get more details on upcoming outdoor events happening
in southwestern Pennsylvania? Contact her at gvinski -at - sustainablepittsburgh.org with your questions. In the meantime, check out these fun, free activities scheduled for this weekend:

5.10.13What can the SWPA Sustainable Business Compact do for you?Here's what the first Challenger-certified companies said:

“The Compact gives us an effective benchmarking tool to see how far we’ve come and also to give insights into new opportunities for growth in sustainable business practices.”
--Jamie Moore, Director of Sourcing and Sustainability for Eat’n Park Hospitality Group

“The Compact validates our efforts and lends credibility to what companies like ours are doing in the ways of sustainability.”
--Geoff Muessig, Chief Marketing Officer for PITT OHIO

“While our products are sustainable, we also want to have sustainable business processes. We are looking forward to learning from the community in terms of best practices, policy, and training.”
--Marc Portnoff, Manager, New Technology at Thar Geothermal/Thar Energy

If you work for a mid to large size business that seeks to grow or build its sustainability program, contact Sustainable Pittsburgh about signing on to the SWPA Sustainable Business Compact, or attend our next Compact workshop, “Corporate Stewardship and Leadership for Water Conservation,” Wednesday, June 5 at the Sheraton Station Square.

Join SP’s Matt Mehalik for a 15 minute sustainability briefing about the Compact!
3E Link and Learn phone conference: Join a 15 minute call to learn more about the SWPA Sustainable Business Compact and how your company can get involved. Tuesday, May 14 at 11:45am. Conference line: (412) 380-2000 and passcode: 1737358

What are the Benefits of Becoming a Certified Sustainable Municipality?
Sustainable Pittsburgh teamed up with the Local Government Academy to offer a short instructional video for how municipalities can become Sustainable Certified.

Local governments stand to benefit from increased efficiencies, additional cash flow, and positive public image—all of which can be achieved from having sustainability as the framework for operations.

This video covers how to get started on becoming a sustainable community through Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Sustainable Community Essentials Certification Program. Topics covered include grant opportunities, financial incentives, and examples of sustainability initiatives undertaken by municipalities in southwestern Pennsylvania.

View this brief video to see how your municipality can achieve these gains by participating in the Certification Program. Watch the video at: www.sustainablecommunityessentials.org (Scroll down on homepage – video is on left hand side).

3E Link and Learn phone conference: Join a 15 minute call to learn more and how you can engage your municipality to get certified. Monday, May 6 at 11:45. Conference line: (412) 380-2000 and passcode: 1737358

Several municipalities in Pennsylvania have considered creating stormwater authorities to address the ongoing problems of flooding and stormwater management, but are reluctant to do so without the express authorization of the general assembly. This reluctance and uncertainty would be minimized with the passing of this legislation, which would explicitly provide authorization to engage in stormwater management planning and projects.

3E Link and Learn phone conference: Join a 15 minute call to learn more about this legislative priority. Monday, May 6 at 12:15. Conference line: (412) 380-2000 and passcode: 1737358

4.25.13Advocates Note Pittsburgh Air Is Improving, Caution We Still Need to Complete the JobGroups: “Implementing Pittsburgh’s Clean Construction legislation is a concrete step to improving air quality”
Yesterday, the American Lung Association (ALA) released its 2013 “State of the Air” report, an annual ranking of air pollution levels across the country. The report finds that over the past few years, while our region’s economy was strong and population levels were increasing, air quality in the Pittsburgh metro area slowly improved. Decreases in air pollution can be attributed to many factors, including installation of new pollution-control equipment at the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Plant, emission reductions from coal-fired power plants and the use of cleaner diesel fuel and engines.

“The fact that the region’s economy has been stable and the population growing when levels of air pollution went down shows us that clean air and a strong economy go hand in hand,” said Matthew Mehalik, Program Manager at Sustainable Pittsburgh. “We need more support for clean air policies that add value to the region.”

Despite these improvements, the area is still only one of two metro areas outside of California to rank among the 25 most polluted cities in the country. Our area ranks as one of the top 10 most polluted cities in the nation with regard to short- and long-term particle pollution. Particle pollution is the mix of tiny solid and liquid particles in the air we breathe, which can increase the risk of heart and lung disease, adverse birth outcomes, cancer and premature death. Pittsburgh also continues to report some of the worst levels of ozone pollution, which can reduce lung function and worsen asthma.

A key step toward cleaning up our region’s air is for Pittsburgh to implement and enforce the “Clean Air Act of 2010,” also known as clean construction legislation, as soon as possible. The law requires projects receiving at least $250,000 in public subsidies to use a percentage of cleaner construction equipment. The legislation should have been implemented within six months of passing, but instead has languished in City Hall for nearly two years.

A letter signed by local environmental groups urging the Mayor of Pittsburgh to implement the clean construction legislation as quickly as possible was sent today. Citizens can ask the Mayor to take action now by contacting his office at (412) 255-2626 or on-line here.

Recently Sustainable Pittsburgh joined community partners in celebrating UPMC’s five years of promoting environmentally friendly health care initiatives. During a ceremony at UPMC’s Hillman Cancer Center in Shadyside, UPMC officials recognized Community Partners, internal UPMC System Green Team Members and Systemwide Initiative Leaders for their efforts.

Over the past five years, UPMC has been an active leader in southwestern Pennsylvania’s growing sustainability accomplishments in the business sector, as coordinated by Sustainable Pittsburgh. From serving on the advisory committee of our Champions for Sustainability (C4S) network for sustainable businesses; co-chairing the Sustainable Business & Municipal Roundtable; to competing in the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge, UPMC has contributed to significant regional environmental improvements, such as saving energy, reducing waste, and improving the region’s air quality.

UPMC has also taken the rare forward position of extending its leadership in sustainability from environmental operational issues into strategic, core-business, and market-transformational actions. In 2011 UPMC co-organized the Sustainability and Healthcare Series: Improving Healing Environments, a four-part series on the intersection of sustainability and healthcare presented by Sustainable Pittsburgh - www.C4SPgh.org/healthcare.

4.11.13Session summary: "Presenting the Case for Crafting a Regional Energy Strategy and Plan"

On Tuesday, April 9, Sustainable Pittsburgh and Washington & Jefferson College Center for Energy Policy and Management hosted the closing session for Engineering Sustainability 2013 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. Entitled “Presenting the Case for Crafting a Regional Energy Strategy and Plan,” the session featured a keynote by Jane Long, retired Principal Associate Director at Large for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory & Fellow, LLNL Center for Global Strategic Research. Panelists included Greg Babe, CEO, Orbital Engineering, Inc. and former President and CEO, Bayer Corporation; Jeffrey Ball, Scholar-in-Residence at Stanford University's Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance; and Bobby Vagt, President, The Heinz Endowments.

The session began with Dr. Long presenting the process overview and findings of California’s Energy Future Committee, which developed a comprehensive analysis on how California could meet its greenhouse reduction goal of 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Dr. Long emphasized the value of measuring data, life cycle analysis, and asking the right questions. She acknowledged that oftentimes it is necessary to first conduct a deep analysis in order to then develop the correct questions to be asked. The panel then provided reaction to Dr. Long’s presentation. Discussion covered the role of natural gas as a bridge to a clean energy economy, why regions are the ideal locus for energy planning and strategy, and the need for a sustainability framework and goals to catalyze innovation and chart a deliberate future relative to energy production, consumption, efficiency, and conservation.

Overall, the group concluded that this region will have an energy policy, but it will either be by choice or by accident. The conversation will continue. Interested individuals can learn about new developments by subscribing to Sustainable Pittsburgh’s 3E Links newsletter.

3.28.13
Spring -- a time for Renewal
See how your membership with Sustainable Pittsburgh can impact the region

Please support our work by becoming a member of Sustainable Pittsburgh today. Members directly help accelerate our mission, receive discounts to SP events, gain access to sustainability tools and networking opportunities, and learn the latest trends in sustainability through this weekly e-newsletter, 3E Links.

Sustainable Pittsburgh affects decision-making for the Pittsburgh region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality bringing sustainable solutions to communities and businesses. Your membership dollars help support initiatives addressing the policy and practice of sustainability. A few key programs in the news include:

Green Workplace Challenge
A yearlong competition, the GWC promotes energy efficiency and other green initiatives through measurable, verifiable actions. In response to demand, this year the GWC will be expanded to include competition categories for nonprofits, municipalities, and universities, in addition to small, medium, and large businesses. Stay tuned – sign ups begin in May.

Social Venture Partners (SVP) - Pittsburgh selected Sustainable Pittsburgh as a finalist in their “Social Innovation Fast Pitch” program. Through this initiative, SVP-Pittsburgh identifies Allegheny County’s most innovative nonprofits and works with their leaders over two months to help them succinctly and powerfully “tell their story” in a three minute “fast pitch.”

Sustainable Pittsburgh's Executive Director, Court Gould, pitched the idea of a Sustainable Airport Corridor Initiative. Check out his video, recorded here in the Sustainable Pittsburgh office.

Like the idea? Click the button below to make a tax deductible donation to help support this program and others of Sustainable Pittsburgh. (Button takes you to our membership page. Scroll to the bottom if you'd just like to make a donation rather than become a member. Thanks for your support!)

Many of us are familiar with sustainability reporting initiatives, but how can reporting be used to increase a business's competitive edge and spur innovation? What can be gained by signing on to the SWPA Sustainable Business Compact?

This workshop provides Southwestern Pennsylvania businesses an opportunity to learn the motivations for, expectations of, and value derived from sustainability reporting initiatives. Participants will learn about:
- Inspiring stories of regional corporate leaders who are documenting and declaring the value of their evolving sustainability practices
- The firsthand benefits of taking that first step for producing a corporate sustainability report
- The support and credibility that a certification program can bring to corporate sustainability efforts

2.22.13 - This week, our region's over 550 municipal managers/secretaries received an invitation to participate in the Sustainable Community Essentials Certification.

This online municipal certification program brings hard-earned recognition to communities committed to facilitating cost savings, using resources smartly, and applying best practices in municipal government and community development.

Congratulations and kudos are in order for the first certified sustainable municipalities. Earning Silver Certification are Borough of Millvale and Mt. Lebanon. Those who have pledged to become certified include: Harrison Township, Heidelberg Borough, and the Borough of Monaca.

Feel free to show your appreciation to these pacesetters and urge your local government to become certified too. To learn more about the certification program and the best practices performance being demonstrated by those first certified, visit: www.sustainablecommunityessentials.org

Pittsburgh's District Energy System

2.14.13 - Today's news about PACT, Pittsburgh's centralized steam heating utility, sure gives a sense of troubles in the waters. Indeed, competitive and equitable pricing structures deserve close scrutiny and there appears to be need for recalibrations here. However, before the baby is thrown out with the bath water, let us take stock of how such district energy systems further the tenets of sustainability. District heating plants are widespread throughout the US and around the world. They are recognized for providing higher efficiencies, lower life-cycle costs, and better pollution control than a multiplicity of individual systems. This is a great topic for civic deliberation in the quest to be recognized as a most sustainable Pittsburgh.

Sustainable Pittsburgh a contestant in Social Venture Partners - Pittsburgh "Fast Pitch" Program

2.7.13 - Sustainable Pittsburgh is pleased to share that Social Venture Partners (SVP) - Pittsburgh selected Sustainable Pittsburgh to be a contestant in their “Social Innovation Fast Pitch” program. Through this initiative, SVP-Pittsburgh identifies Allegheny County’s most innovative nonprofits and works with their leaders over two months to help them succinctly and powerfully “tell their story” in a three minute “fast pitch.” Ten of the twelve participating nonprofits will soon be selected to move on to a final round where they will deliver their “pitch” to a panel of judges and an audience of more than 400. Over $30,000 in grant awards are available.

Come join the finalists as they make their pitches on Wednesday, March 6 from 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm at the Fairmont Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh! The Fast Pitch is a night of story telling that can lead to tremendous inspiration. Attendees in the past have remarked that this is the single best event they have ever attended! More information is found at www.svppittsburgh.org. (On the events page, click the SVP Fast Pitch 2013 vertical graphic on the right for event details and ticket information.)

Innovation Spotlight No. 4: January 2013
Massaro Corporation

“We Want to Be a Role Model for Our Industry”
- Joe Massaro III, President and Chief Operating Officer

The emergence of LEED standards over the past few years has had a major impact on the construction industry, instilling a dynamic of innovation that has been picking up momentum, especially in southwestern Pennsylvania. Sustainable Pittsburgh, through its Innovation Spotlight column, was fortunate to have a conversation with Joe Massaro III, President and COO of Massaro Corporation, one of the region’s early adopter firms of LEED design and construction practices.

According to Mr. Massaro, a growing market segment demands information about sustainable design. Specifically, 9 out of 10 owners ask about the possibilities of LEED construction—especially how much it will cost to achieve different levels of LEED standards. Universities are gravitating towards LEED for how their new buildings are to be constructed. Foundations are funding projects in partnerships, with requirements that the projects be pursued as LEED projects. Nonprofits are requiring LEED designs for their operations and office space.

The growing demand for information about sustainable design has led to the need to figure out how to achieve various LEED points. What were viable solutions? How could these solutions be achieved? How much will it cost to achieve them? Are the answers geothermal heating systems? Low flow toilets? Transportation? Green products? This has introduced a degree of uncertainty into projects.

Massaro has responded by finding new ways of getting projects built. The key has been an ability to do research, find solutions, and translate them into practices and experience. The firm’s capacities have evolved to reflect the best of both worlds—innovation guided by skill to deliver on budget, or as Mr. Massaro put it, “to offer additional value and still compete on a same cost basis.”

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a global moment to pause, take stock of progress, and to redouble human rights efforts.

Consider adding to your reflections a read of Inclusion in the Workforce: Positioning the Pittsburgh Region to Prosper and Compete. This strategic report explains why, in this global information economy, racial equity and inclusion are the cornerstones of sustained development and successful, healthy regional economies. This report analyzes racial disparities in employment in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, reviews the critical role that a diverse workforce plays in improving economic competitiveness, and recommends policies for enabling the region to reach its full potential.

Below are highlights of Sustainable Pittsburgh's work in 2012. We appreciate the support of our members and donors, who help make these projects happen.

Please consider renewing, or becoming a new member for 2013! Visit our membership page for more information.
Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge
A yearlong competition for businesses to reduce energy usage, the Green Workplace Challenge yielded big results among the 50+ participants:

- Saved 67,159,765 kWh of energy, enough to power 5,842 average U.S. homes for a year.
- Saved nearly 91 million gallons of water, enough to fill Heinz Field 13 feet!
- Saved over 18,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent: roughly 452 airline flights of 500 miles or 3.1 days worth of all flights leaving Pittsburgh International Airport on a given day.

We estimate the dollar savings on just the energy alone to be $4.2 million. To view the winners and learn more about the Challenge, please visit greenchallenge.C4SPgh.org.

Business and Community Sustainability Coordinators
The Business Sustainability Coordinators cohort has grown from 21 industry professionals to over 70. SP facilitates this group as well as a municipal counterpart: the Community Sustainability Coordinators (professionals in local government and community development responsible for implementing sustainability programs). Both affinity groups feature resource sharing and continued professional development in the burgeoning sustainability profession. For 2013 they are coming together in the new Sustainable Business and Municipal Roundtable to tackle financing green infrastructure.

SWPA Sustainable Business Compact
Businesses around the region are urged to assess their sustainability performance and be acknowledged for their leadership via the new SWPA Sustainable Business Compact. The Compact provides a credible and rigorous pathway for businesses to advance and publicly demonstrate their corporate sustainability achievements. The Compact is a strategic next step for the region, and the first of its kind to take a regional approach to sustainability needs and opportunities.

SWPA Sustainable Community Essentials Certification
Building from success of the online Sustainable Community Essentials Rapid Assessment (completed by over 130 municipalities), local government practitioners came together to transform the Assessment into a formal certification program (and we are part of a coalition looking to take it statewide). The certification was launched at the 12th annual SWPA Smart Growth Conference on December 13. Urge your municipality to get certified.

Accelerating sustainability - additional achievements
- Continuing to facilitate community exploration of Bus Rapid Transit and development of GetTherePgh.org
- Continued advocacy for transportation funding.
- Strategy for water stewardship led to successful creation of both the new Water Economy Network and Headwaters Resource Committee.
- Facilitating a committee of developers to create policy recommendations for innovative finance for urban redevelopment.
- Sustainable Development Academy partnership with the Local Government Academy delivered training programs on air quality, blight & abandonment, waste management and recycling, and managing Marcellus and is tied to municipal certification.
- Champions for Sustainability (C4S) business network led a workshop series on air quality in partnership with The Breathe Project.
- Sustainable Business Designation program for small companies expanded to Butler County. For 2013 we will launch the next version for mid-size interests.
- 12th Annual Smart Growth Conference brought business and municipal leaders together to advance regional priorities of water quality, transportation funding, financing urban redevelopment.

On Thursday, December 13, some 250 leaders from business, government, and nonprofit sectors converged at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center for the 12th annual Southwestern Pennsylvania Smart Growth Conference. The day-long event tackled three issues critical to our region’s long term sustainability: transportation funding, green infrastructure for water quality, and financing for urban redevelopment.

Mario Leone, Manager of Monaca Borough, and Dennis Yablonsky, CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, presented the first keynote on the interdependence of municipalities and business and the need for collaboration on issues of common interest. Barry Schoch, PennDOT Secretary of Transportation (audio of his presentation found below); Jim Good, Interim Executive Director for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (Veolia North America); and Michael Pehur, Development Finance Consulting Director for Duane Morris Government Strategies, keynoted each subsequent issue session, with many additional experts serving on reaction panels and fielding questions from the audience.

Stay tuned for posting of full event audio files as well as a summary of the key policy ideas raised during the event.

Several media representatives were in attendance. Following are news stories that focused on PennDOT Secretary Schoch’s remarks:

Sustainable Pittsburgh announces winners of the Green Workplace Challenge
Congratulations to all who participated

On October 18, 2012, Sustainable Pittsburgh announced the winners of the first ever Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge (GWC) during a morning program held at Phipps Conservatory. The organization also shared the significant, positive impact the participants have had on the region over the past year.

The winners of the competition are as follows:

Small Business Category Winner: evolve environment::architecture – 221 points
The small business runner up is Pashek Associates with 147 points.

Medium Business Category Winner: Eaton Corporation – 78 points
The medium business runner up is: Ductmate – 74 points
Third place in the medium business category is WESCO – 69 points

Large Business Category Winner: Bayer – 221 points
The large business runner up is PNC Financial Services Group – 198 points
Third place in the large business category is: BNY Mellon – 188 points

In the Observer category, a non-competitive category, the top three scorers are Allegheny County with 320 points, Green Building Alliance – 219 points, and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank – 97 points.

Southwestern Pennsylvania Sustainable Business Compact unveiled as next step in regional/business sustainability

Also on October 18, Sustainable Pittsburgh unveiled the Southwestern Pennsylvania Sustainable Business Compact, a commitment and certification platform providing a credible and rigorous pathway for businesses to advance and publicly demonstrate their corporate sustainability achievements. The Compact steps beyond the “green” actions found in the Green Workplace Challenge and embraces additional components of sustainability like diversity, smart growth, workforce development, governance and management.

Tailored to this region’s unique sustainability needs and opportunities, it facilitates the collaboration of business and community on a regional level, and because of that, it helps build a regional ecosystem that centers on innovation, talent attraction, investment, and healthier people and communities. Learn more about the Compact by visiting: www.C4SPgh.org

Continuing the momentum from last year's conference, the focus will be on the policy and practice of sustainability as a catalyst to further unite business and local government as partners in the region's progress. The focus will be on new platforms for collaboration and key regional issues of: transportation, green infrastructure, and innovative finance for urban redevelopment.

Presented by The Pittsburgh Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI), and Sustainable Pittsburgh's Champions for Sustainability network.

This daylong conference will involve identification and discussion of engineering solutions towards moving this region's vital infrastructure towards a more sustainable and healthy future.

The conference will focus on three cornerstone aspects of this region's infrastructure that is in need of immediate attention. These aspects include:
- locks and dams and the consequences on the region if this vital piece of infrastructure continues to be ignored
- asset management and properly allocating and appropriating funds in complex political arenas
- this region's vast supply of water resources and leveraging this rich commodity to improve the local economy and attract businesses to this region.

Numerous high profile speakers from around the nation are expected to attend and present engineering solutions to these problems in a panel/workshop style setting. All attendees will be encouraged to share ideas in how to best address the items above. Findings from this conference will be compiled and summarized in a white paper for legislative purposes.

Pittsburgh - Center of Excellence in Water Innovation
"Exploring joint opportunities with Pittsburgh's growing water industry"

Come join the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance and Sustainable Pittsburgh for a breakfast report out and discussion of the report release: Sustainable Water Innovation Initiative for Southwestern Pennsylvania. This work is a follow-on to last year's release of the region's first characterization of the region's burgeoning water industry. The Water Innovation report identifies a variety of proposed water-related demonstration projects across our region that lie at the nexus of the region's niche water expertise, solving water-related concerns, and solutions that represent business development opportunities here and abroad.

The event will feature:
• Update on the region's growing water industry cluster
• Release of the report by Carnegie Mellon University, Sustainable Water Innovation Initiative for Southwestern Pennsylvania
• Industry panel response
• Launch of the Water Economy Network

The event is part of an unfolding opportunity to advance the water sector and raise global awareness of the Pittsburgh region's water prowess while addressing water issues regionally and exploring business opportunity in extending the region's expertise domestically and abroad. Toward elevating our region as a center of excellence in water innovation, international business leaders have been invited to come explore business development opportunities.

Mark your calendars!
Pittsburgh's Day of Giving is Wednesday, October 3, 2012.

Please consider making a gift to Sustainable Pittsburgh through the PittsburghGives Day of Giving 2012: Wednesday, October 3 from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59:59 p.m. During this 24 hour period, you can donate via credit card (MasterCard or Visa only) to your favorite nonprofits and have a portion of your donation matched! Visit www.pittsburghgives.org and find us under the Nonprofit Search.

The minimum donation for nonprofits on the Day of Giving is $25 and all donations are 100% tax deductible. All donations during this 24-hour period via www.pittsburghgives.org will receive a pro-rated portion of the match pool. Please note, no donations via check, cash or stock are permitted.

Your contribution on October 3 goes above and beyond the call of membership in enabling Sustainable Pittsburgh to strengthen and maintain its core programming.

To give you an idea as to what we've been working on, in just over a month (October 18), we will be highlighting the leadership of this region's businesses via their involvement in the yearlong Green Workplace Challenge, a friendly competition managed by Sustainable Pittsburgh that demonstrates the triple bottom line business case of sustainability. The October 18 Leadership Recognition and Awards Ceremony will announce regional leaders, reveal the total impact of the competition, and feature prominent speakers from our region.

During the event, SP will officially launch the SWPA Sustainable Business Compact, a set of sustainability policies and practices businesses employ to simultaneously advance their organizational mission, the environment, and the social fabric of their communities. Tailor-made to southwestern Pennsylvania's unique sustainability needs and opportunities, the Compact was vetted with a peer group of business sustainability professionals representing small, mid, and large-size companies in the region. The Compact is the first regional approach of its kind and is a next step in substantiating our region’s economic, environmental and quality of life transformation.

For local government, this fall SP is launching a formal Sustainable Community Essentials Certification Program. An outgrowth of the Sustainable Community Essentials Rapid Assessment, this program is intended to encourage and recognize more municipalities in adopting sustainability as their strategy.

These are just a few of the many items your Sustainable Pittsburgh is working on. Stay tuned for details about the 12th annual SWPA Smart Growth Conference in December. Thank you for your support!

Over the last several years, Sustainable Pittsburgh has partnered with organizations like TRRA to build a more sustainable region by galvanizing the community through outdoor recreation. Sustainable Pittsburgh and TRRA collaborate to elevate awareness of rowing and paddling and to bring the sport to our youth who otherwise would never have such a life development opportunity of getting on the water.

Sustainable Pittsburgh chose the name "Water Matters" for the shell as a reminder of the many ways water is central to life. The naming is also a nod to the 2010 regional theme of World Environment Day, when Pittsburgh served as North America’s Host City, as appointed by the United Nations Environment Program.

Sustainable Pittsburgh is honored. Thank you, Three Rivers Rowing, for all of the great work you do!

Come learn about how Green Workplace Challenge actions and activities from the past eleven months can position your business for potential LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. Presenters will offer their experience in getting facilities certified for the LEED Existing Building: Operations and Maintenance (EBOM) standard to help others learn the process, the benefits, and key insights.

Aurora Sharrard, VP of Innovation, Green Building Alliance, will provide an overview of LEED certification.

This event is the 11th of 12 workshops in a year-long series of Green Workplace Challenge participant workshops. You do not need to be a participant in the Green Workplace Challenge to participate; however, if your organization would like to sign up for the Green Workplace Challenge as an Observer, you are welcome to do so here and save on the workshop registration fee.

Mt. Lebanon: Taking the Lead on StormwaterA summary of the July 17, 2012 Community Sustainability Coordinators’ Meeting
(a growing cohort of municipal and community sustainability professionals
regularly convened by Sustainable Pittsburgh)

The most recent Community Sustainability Coordinators' Meeting was
hosted at Mt. Lebanon Public Library on July 17, where attendees from
all over the Pittsburgh region learned about the municipality’s efforts
to manage stormwater. Municipal engineer Dan Deiseroth and commissioner
Kristen Linfante presented on the work currently underway to help solve
stormwater issues in the municipality, where flooding has been a major
problem.

The primary means of funding the work is through a new municipal
stormwater utility fee established in 2011 and paid by Mt. Lebanon’s
residents and businesses to fund the operations and maintenance of
stormwater improvements. Deiseroth’s firm, Gateway Engineers, will have
a feasibility study for Mt. Lebanon’s stormwater improvements ready by
next year, which will identify capacity deficiencies and possible
solutions.

Mt. Lebanon is only the second municipality in Pennsylvania, after
Philadelphia, to establish a stormwater utility. Pittsburgh is now
considering implementation as well, due to considerable flood problems
in some city neighborhoods.

Membership in Sustainable Pittsburgh supports programs like the Sustainable Community Essentials Rapid Assessment and the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge, among other programs that fit with our regional sustainability objectives. Consider joining us at a prorated rate for the remainder of 2012 and helping us achieve our mission!

Recently, our Sustainable Community Essentials Rapid Assessment was highlighted in a news story from Sustainable City Network, a media and publishing company based in Iowa. The story shares how Borough Manager Mario Leone’s completion of the Rapid Assessment led to an epiphany and commitment to sustainability. Mr. Leone's sustainability leadership is now widely recognized.

The Rapid Assessment, completed by 130 municipalities in SWPA, is Sustainable Pittsburgh's checklist used to appraise a community’s sustainability efforts. It is now being transformed into a formal municipal certification program.

From September 2011 to April 2012, the 50+ participants, on an annual basis:
• Saved more than enough energy annually to power homes in two Pittsburgh neighborhoods: Regent Square (543 homes) and Friendship (1,072 homes). (Energy savings: 19,102,725 kWh)
• Reduced emissions equating to roughly 222 airline flights of 500 miles each—or about one and a half days worth of all flights leaving Pittsburgh International Airport on a typical day. (Emissions reduction: 8,896 metric tons of CO2 equivalent)
• Saved as much water as that which is used in each of 514 typical U.S. households per year (Water saved: 48,805,660 gallons).

Help us continue our work of accelerating the policy and practice of sustainability in SWPA. Join Sustainable Pittsburgh now through August 31 to receive 50% off membership dues for 2012 through December 31! Join easily online at: www.sustainablepittsburgh.org/joinsustainable2012.html

Thanks for your consideration!

Last Chance for ChangeDeadline approaching for municipal grant opportunity

The Heinz Endowments Summer Youth Philanthropy Interns, in conjunction with Sustainable Pittsburgh and the Local Government Academy, would like to remind you about the availability of a grant called “Produce Change.”

Awards will be granted to municipalities or their recognized nonprofit partners in southwestern Pennsylvania that are engaged in pursuing more sustainable practices and want to become positive examples for other municipalities in sustainable food systems and consumption of local produce.

The Interns plan to fund a municipality’s partnership with Buy Fresh Buy Local. The successful municipal program may work to form a Buy Fresh Buy Local committee, make locally sourced businesses more visible, educate the public, make local foods more accessible, and create a set of guidelines that can be used as a model for other municipalities.

Just recently, the interns partnered with Local Government Academy to host a webinar about the RFP. Click here for more information. (You will need to register before viewing the webinar.)

Join fellow Green Workplace Challenge participants and others in an opportunity to interact with experts on the topic of water conservation. Following the program, a tour of the Bayer EcoCommercial Conference Center will be offered to interested workshop attendees.

Presenters:
Cardinal Resources
Hatch Mott McDonald

This event is the 10th of 12 workshops in a year-long series of Green Workplace Challenge participant workshops. Taking actions associated with the topics addressed in this workshop can earn your organization a number of competition points in the Green Workplace Challenge associated with water and energy usage reductions. Check out the official GWC competition manual to see the full list of actions for which you can earn points.

"Produce Change"
Municipal Grant Opportunity

The Heinz Endowments Summer Youth Philanthropy Interns, in conjunction with Sustainable Pittsburgh and the Local Government Academy, are pleased to announce the availability of a grant called “Produce Change.”

The students administering this grant are learning about the work of foundations and nonprofits by directly funding programs they deem valuable. In keeping with priorities identified by municipalities that have completed the online Sustainable Community Essentials Rapid Assessment for Southwestern Pennsylvania, the Interns are interested in funding a committee that would encourage residents to buy local produce.

These efforts should involve initiatives that improve local produce systems by emphasizing the importance and accessibility of locally sourced foods. Awards will be granted to municipalities or their recognized nonprofit partners in southwestern Pennsylvania that are engaged in pursuing more sustainable practices and want to become positive examples for other municipalities in sustainable food systems and consumption of local produce.

The Interns plan to fund a municipality’s partnership with Buy Fresh Buy Local (http://www.buylocalpa.org/). The successful municipal program may work to form a Buy Fresh Buy Local committee, make locally sourced businesses more visible, educate the public, make local foods more accessible, and create a set of guidelines that can be used as a model for other municipalities. Other ideas that meet the grant criteria will be considered as well.

Lighting the Way to a More Sustainable Future
A Recap of the May 22, 2012 Community Sustainability Coordinators’ Meeting(a growing cohort of municipal and community sustainability professions regularly convened by Sustainable Pittsburgh)

Tight budgets have long been the norm for the hundreds of municipal governments in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Decades of losses in industry and population have coincided with heavily-eroded tax bases, leaving municipalities with the challenge of learning how to upkeep existing infrastructure with less money. What’s a municipality to do in such a formidable situation?

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) suggests that addressing energy use is a good start. According to SPC, energy is among the biggest money hogs for tight municipal budgets. Lighting costs dominate a municipality’s energy bill: street lights account for a whopping two-thirds of municipal energy expenditures. Yet these are costs that can be controlled.

The May 22 Community Sustainability Coordinators’ meeting, hosted at SPC, addressed how municipalities can cut their energy bills with help from SPC’s various programs. Laura Mundell, SPC development specialist, and Domenic D’Andrea, SPC’s Regional Traffic Signal Initiatives manager, were the primary speakers.

Yesterday, Sustainable Pittsburgh released the latest standings for participants in the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge (GWC), a yearlong competition demonstrating the triple bottom line business case for sustainable business practices. Over 50 entities are participating, comprising businesses in the small to mid markets, as well as the Fortune 500 and nonprofit sectors.

Act 13 of 2012 has far reaching effects. While awaiting the result of the current court injunction for the changes in municipal zoning to be effective, the other provisions of the Act are in effect and have also created significant changes from the status quo. One significant area is Chapter 32, which deals with the powers of the Department of Environmental Protection to deal with setbacks and other issues.

Scott Perry, PA DEP’s Deputy Secretary, from the Office of Oil and Gas Management, and the state’s top regulator of Marcellus Shale gas drilling, will address DEP's new roles relating to Act 13 and its provisions to fulfill them.

Mr. Perry will address the requirements outlined in Chapter 32 of Act 13 of 2012, which replaced the Oil and Gas Act of 1984. Some of the topics that will be covered during the presentation include:

- New chemical disclosure and reporting obligations
- Increased setbacks and well siting restrictions
- Changes to well permitting procedures, plans, and approvals, including Water Management Plans
- How and when municipalities can comment on drilling activity
- The process for producers to request variances or waivers from DEP
- New water supply protections and disclosure requirements
- Increased bonding requirements
- Stricter enforcement mechanisms
- DEP's capacity to enforce these new provisions

This is a good opportunity to hear directly from and discuss with DEP how the agency plans to address its responsibilities under the new law -- especially Chapter 32 of Act 13 which addresses new provisions which are now regulated by DEP (as opposed to being regulated by local government).

The Meaning of Things: Pittsburgh's 21st Century Triumph over 20th Century Urban RenewalA lecture by Dr. Mindy Fullilove
Monday, June 18
6:00 pm
August Wilson Center for African American Culture Theater, 980 Liberty Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh
Admission is FREE, but an RSVP is requested
For more information or to RSVP contact terickson@cdcp.org or (412) 391-4144.Flyer

"We live not by things but by the meaning of things, and it is needful to pass the keys from generation to generation." - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Join the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh and its partners in hosting Dr. Mindy Fullilove, a distinguished social psychiatrist and professor from Columbia University. Dr. Fullilove will discuss Pittsburgh's leadership in restoring and reconnecting communities.

Managing Marcellus: A Three-Part Training Series

A partnership of Local Government Academy, Sustainable Pittsburgh, and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, the "Managing Marcellus" training series is specifically designed for the interest and needs of municipal officials. Following is a listing of the upcoming events.

Offered with funding support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the programs are open to the public; however, a working knowledge of the powers, duties, roles and responsibilities of local government elected and appointed officials is required to attend these programs. Cost is $20 per session. Discounts and scholarships available.
More information available here.

Green Workplace Challenge Leaderboard Update
New businesses rise to the top as more green actions are put into practice

New businesses rise to the top as more green actions are put into practice
Businesses participating in the Green Workplace Challenge (GWC) continue their efforts toward energy efficiency and other sustainable practices, and the businesses that have pushed the most in the past few months have the competition points to show for their hard work.

In the Large Business category, Bayer climbed to the leading slot (87 points) from its earlier 3rd place position. PNC also nudged its way into the 2nd place slot (60 points) from its earlier 5th place position.

The Medium Business competition remained more stable, with Del Monte Foods (42 points) maintaining the leading slot.

EvolveEA (78 points, up from its earlier 5 points) flipped places with Pashek Associates, Ltd. (31 points) in the Small Business category.

Some of the largest jumps occurred when several of the competitors chose to purchase 100% renewable power, in some cases producing a windfall of 50 competition points. Details on how points are awarded can be found in the Green Workplace Challenge Competition Manual.

Congratulations to our GWC competitors!

There are still many opportunities to earn points between now and the end of September, when this first competition comes to a close. The competition is entering a phase where energy conservation will begin to matter more: the competition awards the most points for conserving electricity, natural gas, and water usage each month over the course of the competition.

The next leaderboard update will occur on April 27 at the next GWC monthly workshop, where participants can learn about several community-group certifications that can earn competition points. Details and registration are forthcoming. If your organization would like to sign on as a Green Workplace Challenge Observer, you are welcome to do so here and save on future workshop registration fees.

The Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge is a yearlong competition demonstrating the triple bottom line business case for sustainable business practices. Over 50 entities are participating in the GWC, comprising businesses in the small to mid markets, as well as the Fortune 500 and nonprofit sectors. The GWC is an initiative of Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Champions for Sustainability business network. Learn more at greenchallenge.C4SPgh.org.

Southwestern Pennsylvania is tapping into cutting-edge people and companies that are offering products, services, and employment to growing markets that contribute to our regional economy based on green and sustainable principles. It is important that these stories are told so that our region’s workforce, consumers, potential business partners, and community members can connect and build relationships with these leading firms.
Champions for Sustainability (C4S), a program of Sustainable Pittsburgh, launched the Innovation Spotlight to help tell the informative and inspirational stories of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s green business organizations in this feature about innovative companies in green products, services, and jobs.

“Solar energy is the future. For every solar panel we bring on line, that much less coal is needed to generate electricity.”
- Fred Underwood, President and Founder, Underwood Solar Future

"This morning's 200 attendees is tribute to the sorry reality that blight and abandonment is pervasive across our towns and our Power of 32 region. It is wonderful to see such wide representation in the room from so many sectors and reaches of our region. . .

Once seemingly limited to the stereotypic image of urban decay, blight and abandonment is now a contemporary problem common to all communities. Just as it's a new America where poverty is greater in rural than urban areas, our region is a study of changing socio-economics where pockets of pernicious decline are cropping up in rural, suburban, and urban forms alike. A perspective we partners share is that not only is blight and abandonment ubiquitous across our landscape, but it is recognized to be a marker of larger region-scale concerns. . .

In step with the Broken Window theory, blight and abandonment is appreciated to be both an outcome as well as precursor to a whole host of social, economic, and environmental concerns. As vacant properties manifest, so begets community withdrawal and the onset of loss of control thus inviting a whole host of ills to take hold. While that decaying property with its broken windows may seem to some to be a low civic priority, it actually stands as is either the neighborhood unraveling by blind-eye neglect or the diamond in the rough asset that cries out to be transformed into productive re-use.

It is this "assets and opportunity" conviction that brings us together to explore the innovative and brave interventions our guest speakers will be sharing with you today. These are our pioneers who are revitalizing communities, building new structures, policies, incentives, and tools for community and regional economic development.

Sustainable Pittsburgh was pleased to be among the throngs of organizations staffing tables to show support at the 2/29 Port Authority of Allegheny County hearing on the looming transit cuts. Throughout the day one remarkable testimonial after another was delivered. The collective impact weighs heavily on the sorry days ahead if the Governor were not to provide a funding solution per his commission's recommendations. Sustainable Pittsburgh's remarks are found here.

Sustainable Pittsburgh - Accelerating the policy and practice of sustainability in SWPA

In 2011 Sustainable Pittsburgh (SP) intensified efforts to galvanize formal commitments among businesses and communities. SP's list of 2011 accomplishments truly illustrates what a small organization with solid strategy can achieve.

2012 brings a number of expanded initiatives for Sustainable Pittsburgh, including evolving the Sustainable Community Essentials Rapid Assessment into a sustainability certification program, formal adoption of a Sustainable Business Compact by our region's businesses, continuation of the Green Workplace Challenge, increased education opportunities on targeted sustainability issues, promotion of the region's outdoor recreation opportunities, and continuing strategic work on smart growth and transportation priorities.

Join along side fellow members of Sustainable Pittsburgh in helping us to accelerate the policy and practice of sustainability in Southwestern PA. Learn more.

"Please let Gov. Corbett and the legislative leaders know that you believe the recommendations made by the Transportation Funding Advisory Commission appointed by the Governor are a good framework for addressing the state’s transportation crisis. Action is especially urgent given the 35% cuts the Port Authority will be forced to make in September 2012 if the crisis is not resolved."

Go to the Conference's website, and scroll down to the "Call to Action" where the Governor's contact information is found: www.alleghenyconference.org/Transit/Default.asp
3E Links subscribers likely resonate with the following list of the ways in which public transportation pays on the triple bottom line:

Economy
- Over 50% of downtown Pittsburgh workers and 25% of Oakland workers rely on public transportation. Downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland are, respectively, the number 2 and 3 biggest contributors to Pennsylvania's economy and are the economic engines of southwestern PA.
- One bus takes 40 cars off the road, decreasing traffic congestion and commuting costs for all = more productivity.
- Fewer cars on the road = more available parking spaces.
- Fosters viable compact communities contributing to regional land efficiency and access to jobs.
- Gives consumers access to the retail economy.
- Increases property values and draws investment (transit oriented economic development).
- Reduces living costs per household, putting more disposable income into the regional economy.
- Connection to Pittsburgh International Airport and the world’s business community.
- Funding crisis is relevant to all transit systems in our region (4.6 million rides annually and growing; plus the Port Authority of Allegheny County's 230,000 daily riders and 65 million total passengers annually) and the state, as well as crumbling roads, bridges, and highways, i.e., all transportation infrastructure.
- Vital transit systems are a demand of young, talented knowledge workers who today have options and are highly discriminating in their choice of places to live and work.

Environment
- One bus removes the equivalent of 50 cars' airborne emissions for a region already struggling to meet federal regional air quality requirements and experiencing lives shortened because of pollution.
- Greater efficiency in consumption of precious regional resources.

Equity
- Access to opportunity thus allowing citizens to participate to their full productive potential.
- Facilitates the diversity vitality upon which our region's innovation was, is, and will be founded.
- A melting pot service for all walks (and those not so ambulatory) of life.
- Transit dependant citizens include our seniors, students, and those who don't own a car.
- Critical access to limited options for accessing healthy food.

Clearly we southwestern Pennsylvanians all benefit from keeping the wheels on the bus. Do let our Governor know your thoughts today.

These triple bottom line benefits of public transportation brought to you by Sustainable Pittsburgh's Board of Directors.

Don't Let Pittsburgh Be a Loser
The impending next wave of dire cuts to public transportation is a grave threat to Pittsburgh's, and thus the whole region's, economy. Roads, bridges, highways, and public transportation are the basis of our productivity. They are the lubrication of our economy. In particular, public transportation provides a lifeline for workers and for businesses. With an unusually high rate of transit ridership, (51% of all downtown commuters use public transit) and the positive economic ramifications of a strong transit system, it is no surprise that long overdue transportation funding solutions finally have bipartisan support in Harrisburg. This presents a golden platter win win opportunity for the Governor. The many ways in which the state has been instrumental in Pittsburgh's resurgence as a global model of resiliency now stand in the balance. There is no upwardly mobile, rising sustainable city in the world with a failing public transportation system. And these systems rely on public support as public services. In the past several years, the Port Authority of Allegheny County has remarkably reformed its management and operations -- more than any transportation entity in the nation. It should no longer be the recipient of the public's ire. The locus is now squarely on Harrisburg with Governor Corbett holding the wheel to steer us away from the precipice. Absent a state funding solution, the Port Authority is forced to deploy draconian service cuts. This could be the beginning of the end of public transportation as we know it and thus the unraveling of Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania's progress.

Bill O'Rourke
Board Chair
Sustainable Pittsburgh

Allegheny Conference Statement on Proposed Transit Cuts
The Allegheny Conference is extremely concerned about the impact proposed transit cuts would have on our region's people, communities and economy. But there is a solution. We call upon business executives and civic leaders, elected officials and others to encourage Governor Corbett and the General Assembly to act now on the recommendations presented last summer by the Transportation Funding Advisory Commission (TFAC). Read the full comments here.

View remarks from Steve Bland, CEO, Port Authority of Allegheny County, to the House Democratic Policy Committee.

With so many units of local government, this region would be well-served for its municipalities to become sustainability pacesetters. Our local governments have a profound role to play in the way we organize ourselves to live lighter, more justly, and with rising prosperity. Good news. Data from the 129 municipalities around the region that completed the on-line Sustainable Community Essentials Rapid Assessment demonstrate sustainability at the local level is taking hold. There is now an encouraging body of insight (91 policies and practices in the Rapid Assessment) serving to demystify what is means to be a sustainable community. And the many exemplar initiatives revealed a set convincing and inspiring precedent for municipalities to emulate the swelling tide of best sustainability practices among their peers. Toward accelerating this trend, in 2012, Sustainable Pittsburgh will be working with the Community Sustainability Coordinators and additional municipal leaders to evolve the Rapid Assessment into a formal SWPA Sustainable Community Essentials Certification Program. In the meantime, have a look at the following summary of the Rapid Assessment results and thank your municipal leaders for working to formally adopt sustainability as the way of ensuring the good life in our region.

PittsburghTODAY launched its much anticipated Sustainability Indicators during the 11th annual Smart Growth Conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on December 13. The indicators help to measure the region’s progress and offer insight to the region’s embrace of sustainability.

Sustainable Pittsburgh contracted PittsburghTODAY to create this new category. Currently it includes such indicators as air quality, housing vacancy, daily vehicle miles travelled, traffic congestion and others. The list will continue to be expanded over time.

Close to 300 individuals attended the December 13 Smart Growth Conference, entitled “Smart Growth is Smart Business.” Participants learned about Innovative Financing solutions for urban real estate, housing, and metropolitan infrastructure, heard first hand how Green Infrastructure investments result in cost savings and business opportunities, and they saw real life examples of how blighted properties were transformed into valuable real estate and the related challenges and opportunities experienced in such projects. Overall the emphasis was on specific opportunities and next step action items around which the business community can rally to effectuate positive change.

The conference was sponsored by the PNC Financial Services Group (Gold level) and Bakery Square, Bombardier, and HDR (Silver level). Essential Public Radio served as the event’s media sponsor. The conference was presented by Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Green Building Alliance, NAIOP Pittsburgh Chapter, Pittsburgh Technology Council, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Sustainable Pittsburgh, and the Urban Land Institute Pittsburgh District Council.

An event summary and speaker slides are forthcoming on the conference web page. In the meantime, be sure to visit www.pittsburghtoday.org to review the latest sustainability indicators. Also, please see the news articles related to the conference below:

Former HUD chief Cisneros advises Pittsburgh to think young
The city of Pittsburgh should think young, according to Henry Cisneros, a former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and now executive chairman of Cityview, a Texas-based real estate investment and development firm. "That's one of the challenges facing the city," said Cisneros, but that wasn't the only challenge expressed at the 11th Annual Southwestern Pennsylvania Smart Growth Conference, held in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. Other challenges include encouraging city residents to work to benefit not just their own neighborhoods but adjoining areas as well as the entire city, and having the city's public leadership work to resolve existing stormwater problems that cause flooding and other damage. More

Smart Growth Conference is smart business move
The conference features sessions on innovative finance, blight and abandonment, green infrastructure and the indicators of smart growth. Former Clinton cabinet member Henry Cisneros, head of the CityView institutional investment firm, and Robert Lang, a Fellow of the Urban Land Institute, lead a lengthy list of presenters. To be smart about growth, businesses need to realize that even multi-national corporations are still local to someone. “How that [local] community operates is going to affect their labor force, resourcing of materials, tax climate and regulatory climate,” says [Brian] Jensen, who also heads the Pennsylvania Economy League of Southwestern Pennsylvania. “The geographical climate they work in will affect their operability and ultimately their profitability.” More
Smart Growth conference to focus on sustainability
"While the economy has changed dramatically, smart business is today -- as it always has been -- about keeping operating costs predictable and manageable, maintaining a dependable and skilled workforce and securing easy and affordable access to stable (if not growing) markets," [Brian Jensen, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Economy League] wrote. "As businesses invest in the sustainability of communities they help hold down the costs of government by growing the tax base and influencing policy decisions for wise capital expenditures and efficient delivery of public services" . . . Bill Flanagan, Allegheny Conference executive vice president, said the idea of smart growth is imperative to the organization's plans to revitalize communities and groups that haven't benefitted from growth the region has seen over the past two decades . . . "We're trying to create more seats at regional decision-making tables to allow our businesses to focus on ways in which quality of life, sustainable development and helping the regional economy equate to business opportunities," [Court Gould, Executive Director of Sustainable Pittsburgh] said. More

Dearly Beloved Transit Rider... It's House In Order Time

Pittsburgh is a transit riders' town. With such a high percentage of workers and the public using public transportation, you know transit and the economy are joined at the hip.

Remember those drastic cuts this past spring? There's worse trouble ahead. We can anticipate those cuts will be nothing compared to what is coming now that Harrisburg has made it clear that a solution to the state's transportation funding crisis is not a priority. So, unfortunately, it's time we all start planning for a drastically smaller transit system.

Is weekend transit service important to you, or perhaps your employees? How about weekday evenings and nights? That's right. These are the depth of service cuts the Port Authority of Allegheny County has no choice but to begin planning to deploy in the face of our funding crisis.

The irony is that elected officials - who believe raising revenue for roads and transit will hurt the economy - are rendering our economy a calamitous blow by starving its life blood: affordable mobility that links us to opportunity, to jobs, to healthcare, to living. Public transportation is at the heart of our shared prosperity.

The 9/24/11 article, "Port Authority 'death spiral' could come with more cuts", is a must read for all who - or whose employees - depend on the bus or the T. We have about a 10 month window to contingency plan. Van and carpools, 4/10 work weeks, bike commuting, telecommuting, new parking accommodations are among strategies to consider now.

Our advance warning is here. It's time to get our transit back-up plan in order. We all, riders, and our economy depend on it.

Sustainable Pittsburgh and partners target Blight & Abandonment and Waste Management & Recycling in new programming for municipalities:
Topics were identified as a result of municipal self-assessments of their communities’ sustainability

The 120 municipalities around our region that completed the Sustainable Community Essentials Rapid Assessmentprovided a wealth of information in terms of the policy and practice of sustainability here in the region. Responding to those insights, Sustainable Pittsburgh and the Local Government Academy have embarked on an ambitious training agenda to help municipalities hasten the pace sustainability on targeted topics based on evidenced need and opportunity.

The local philanthropic community recognizes the regional economic high stakes and key role of local government in advancing sustainable community development. The Buhl Foundation is supporting development of a municipal programming series to address Blight & Abandonment. Similarly, The Alcoa Foundation has provided grant support for a series on Waste Management & Recycling.

Additional generous funders and partner organizations are lending their support and expertise to enable a range of training programs intended to build on existing municipal best practices and precedent. A key benefit of the Rapid Assessment was to show that sustainability, as reported across 91 actions, is alive and thriving around our region. For 2012, our plan is to evolve this initiative into a formal Sustainable Community Certification.

Thank you for donating through Pittsburgh Gives!

According to the Pittsburgh Foundation, individual contributions that flowed into PittsburghGives on Tuesday, October 4, 2011 totaled $5.15 million. Contributions will each receive an equal pro-rated share of the $750,000 matching funds, creating a total of $5.9 million raised for nonprofits.

Over 50 Main Street businesses earn Sustainable Business Designation through Sustainable Pittsburgh program

In late 2010, Sustainable Pittsburgh, in partnership with Town Center Associates, launched the Sustainable Business Designation program to advance sustainable practices among small, local businesses around Allegheny and Beaver County’s Main Streets. The program recognizes businesses for implementing sustainability actions that are simultaneously good for their bottom line, the environment, and the social fabric of their communities. To date, over fifty businesses have earned sustainable business designation through this program.

To create the program, Sustainable Pittsburgh developed a short checklist of sustainability criteria for businesses. These criteria include provisions related to energy conservation, waste reduction, stormwater management, land use policies, and alternative transportation, among other sustainability-related topics.

Sustainable Business Designation is reflected for each qualifying business in the business directory for their town, soon to be available at www.DowntownFirst.net, as well as through a certificate of acknowledgment and window display stickers. The designation helps customers identify and choose businesses that are committed to sustainability as a core principle to their operations and business model. Businesses can earn an additional, Local Business, designation in the directory as well.

The program is intended to inspire local, small businesses to apply sustainability practices and increase vitality among the region’s rich fabric of small towns and neighborhoods. If you and your business are interested in signing up for the program, visit: www.downtownfirst.net/sustainable-businesses.

After years of demonstrated results, Sustainable Pittsburgh is pleased to release case studies showcasing the positive impact its Sustainable Solutions Consultancy has had for its clients.

Through Sustainable Solutions, Sustainable Pittsburgh brings together a tailor-made multi-disciplinary team of experts to conduct a comprehensive Sustainability Assessment – an integrated examination of a client’s needs such as: energy usage, waste management, storm water management, transportation options, management practices, policies, strategic assets, and other areas. These Assessments use a whole systems approach and are intended to build capacity and provide specific quantified recommendations to save money in operations, conserve resources, enhance civic stewardship, and foster a culture of sustainability practice.

Sustainable Pittsburgh recognizes that businesses, municipalities, and nonprofits need assistance when it comes to incorporating more sustainable policies and practices into their operations. We’re happy to help. We’ve worked with a range of clients including The Mall at Robinson, Cranberry Township, YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, and others.

Municipal Government joining business trend of appointing Sustainability Coordinators

The private sector around the nation and here in southwestern Pennsylvania is on a fast uptake in adopting sustainability as a top level business strategy. Remarkably, during these recession years, the membership of Sustainable Pittsburgh's Business Sustainability Coordinators/Officers professional development network has grown. There are over 70 Business Sustainability Coordinators we know of, representing companies of all types and sizes around the region.

Given the special role local governments play in fostering sustainable development, it's a certainty that municipalities follow the business sector lead in the bottom line practicalities of appointing municipal Sustainability Coordinators. We've been watchful for the opportunity to begin convening such a cohort. But it was not until Sustainable Pittsburgh deployed the Sustainable Community Essentials Rapid Assessment that we learned of sufficient numbers of existing Community Sustainability Coordinators to launch this parallel network.

Sustainable Pittsburgh is pleased to announce the trend of municipal sustainability programming is alive and well as evidenced by the fourth meeting of the Community Sustainable Coordinators network. One of the aspects most valued within the group is learning from peers and local experts about past and current practices and policies central to integrating sustainability in municipal operations, management, and public services.

In addition to self-help, the Community Sustainability Coordinators are committed to work collectively at scale for regional progress. They've decided to focus initially on impacting waste management and recycling by deploying a training program geared to elected officials and municipal decision makers. Indeed, municipal leaders are at the front line of sustainable community development. It is from our home towns that we take a cue to living in ways that add social, economic, and environmental abundance.

If you know of a Community Sustainability Coordinator, urge them to contact Sustainable Pittsburgh to join in the growing group of sustainability professionals. When you see residents and leaders performing as sustainability coordinators from the following communities, be sure to congratulate them:

The Transportation Funding Advisory Commission full report is now available at: www.tfac.pa.gov

Smart Growth Business Council - SWPA

Sustainable Pittsburgh is in good company with the growing numbers of business leaders nationally who recognize that regional growth and development patterns -- guided by principles of smart growth and sustainability -- improve quality of life, lessen the cost of doing business, increase long-term profitability, help reduce tax and infrastructure costs, and contribute to recruitment and retention of employees. We recognize however, that the growing trend of business leaders engaged in regional smart growth has yet to really take hold here in the Pittsburgh region.

Last Fall's 10th annual SWPA Smart Growth Conference, with over 400 attendees, signaled that we are reaching a critical mass. It also illustrated need for greater private sector participation. Business leaders we've spoken with recently feel that the sector is now ready to be catalyzed.
In the post G-20 Pittsburgh upswing, time is ripe for forming a business partnership that is focused on rationalizing our region's patterns of development to more successfully spur economic prosperity and extend this region's signature livability to more persons. The bottom line business case of smart growth is increasingly apparent.

Sustainable Pittsburgh is looking for private sector leaders who seek ways to connect with their peers to identify:
- leverage points for channeling the pattern and character of growth and development to hasten regional sustainability that protects and enhances business investments
- policies and practices to ensure economic growth occurs without the impacts and inefficiencies of unchecked sprawl
- regional and local scale actions businesses can take to promote sustainable communities
- opportunities to have a seat at the table in regional, county, city planning and programming
- incentives to level the field for development and redevelopment to revitalize our older urban centers
- plans and policies at the new economics nexus of land use, transportation, housing, and development
- ways to engage business leaders in helping make smart growth the way of doing business in SWPA

This is an open invitation to the region's business community. Drop us a line if you are interested in establishing the Smart Growth Business Council - SWPA. Its launch will be the focus of the 11th annual Smart Growth Conference in October. Contact: cgould@sustainablepittsburgh.org

Sustainable Pittsburgh Provides Remarks on Marcellus Shale

Sustainable Pittsburgh provided remarks on Marcellus Shale development as part of the Leadership Alle-Kiski Valley's Economic Development Forum. Below is an excerpt.

"The very definition of Sustainable Development provides a framework for considering the Marcellus gold rush: 'Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.' Within this definition is a value that meeting our needs responsibly means not shifting a burden from one population group or even from one generation to another. Let's consider such hard and fast lessons we can derive from the principles of sustainable development:
• Be mindful of the past lest we not replicate mistakes . . .
• Sustainable consumption . . .
• Environmental justice . . .

. . . In these days where sustainable prosperity is dependent on raising all boats, we can ill afford to fracture the region and any one of ours' quality of life. The principles of sustainable development are a recipe for avoiding mistakes of the past. They give a compass to marrying environmental protection with safeguarding ourselves and our communities while enhancing our regional economy. These are just a few thoughts along the over used lines of "we have to get this industry right" in order to realize its lasting potential."